GIFT  OF 


JESUIT  EDUCATION 


ITS 


HISTORY  AND  PRINCIPLES 


VIEWED  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF 


MODERN    EDUCATIONAL   PROBLEMS 


BY 

ROBERT  SCHWICKERATH,  S.  J., 
WOODSTOCK  COLLEGE,  MD. 

>xr\s?p~ 

f     v  or  THE 
I   UN1VERSIT 

OF 


ST.   LOUIS,    MO. 
B.  HERDER 

17  South  Broadway. 
1903. 


H 


&  W&e< 

COPYRIGJJT 
1903 


BY  JOSEPH  GUMMERSBACH. 


-DECICTOLD  — 

PRINTING  AND  BOOK  MFG.  CO. 
ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 


|H 


PREFACE. 

Mr.  Quick,  the  English  educationist,  asserts  that 
"since  the  Revival  of  Learning,  no  body  of  men  has 
played  so  important  a  part  in  education  as  the  Jesuits. " 
And  yet,  as  the  same  author  says,  "about  these  Jesuit 
schools  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  information 
accessible  to  the  English  reader."  (Educational  Re- 
formers j  pp.  33 — 34.)  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  during 
the  past  few  years  much  has  been  said  and  written 
about  the  Jesuit  schools;  in  fact,  they  have  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  public  more,  perhaps,  than  ever 
before.  Howev.er,  with  the  exception  of  the  excellent 
book  of  Father  Thomas  Hughes,  S.  J.  (Loyola  and  the 
Educational  System  of  the  Jesuits,  1892),  most  of  what 
has  been  offered  to  American  and  English  readers  is 
entirely  untrustworthy.  The  account  given  of  the 
Jesuit  system  in  Histories  of  Education  used  in  this 
country,  as  those  of  Compayre,  Painter,  and  Seeley, 
is  a  mere  caricature.  Instead  of  drawing  from  the 
original  sources,  these  authors  have  been  content  to 
repeat  the  biased  assertions  of  unreliable  secondary 
authorities.  Some  observations  on  American  Histories 
of  Education  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book 
(p.  649  sqq.).  The  publication  of  a  new  work  on  the 
educational  system  of  the  Jesuits  may  be  justified  at 
the  present  day.  During  the  last  decade,  educational 
circles  in  this  country  have  been  greatly  agitated 
about  various  questions  of  the  utmost  importance:  the 
elective  system,  the  value  of  the  study  of  the  classics, 

(m) 


IV  PREPACK. 

the  function  of  the  college  and  its  relation  to  the  high 
school  and  university,  and  the  problem  of  moral  and 
religious  training.  It  has  been  the  author's  intention 
to  view  the  Jesuit  system  chiefly  in  the  light  of  these 
modern  problems.  These  important  educational  ques- 
tions have  been  treated  at  some  length,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  on  this  account  the  work  may  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  all  who  are  interested  in  education. 

I  feel  almost  obliged  to  apologize  for  one  feature  of 
the  book,  viz.,  the  numerous  quotations  and  references. 
Though  aware  that  there  is  among  American  and 
English  readers  a  sort  of  antipathy  against  many 
references,  I  have  yet  deemed  it  necessary  to  quote 
freely  from  various  sources.  This  course  I  am  forced 
to  adopt,  as  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  before  the  reader  my 
own  opinions  about  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits,  but  I  want  to  show  what  this  system  is  accord- 
ing to  the  original  sources.  These  are,  above  all,  the 
Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  which,  however,  must  be  supplemented 
by  other  documents.  For,  many  points  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  are  intelligible  only  in  the  light  of  the 
decrees  of  the  Legislative  Assemblies  of  the  Order,  the 
regulations  of  the  General  and  Provincial  Superiors, 
and  the  commentaries  of  prominent  Jesuit  educators. 
A  great  deal  of  this  material  has  been  published  by 
Father  Pachtler,  in  four  volumes  of  the  great  collec- 
tion Monumcnta  Germaniae  Paedagogica  (Berlin  1887 — 
1894);  other  valuable  information  has  been  published 
within  the  last  few  years,  in  the  Monumenta  Historlca 
Societatis  Jesiij  especially  in  the  part  entitled  Monu- 
menta Paedagogica,  which  appeared  in  1901  and  1902. 
An  account  of  these  works  is  given  in  the  Biblio- 


PREFACE.  V 

graphical   Appendix,    under   the    heading :    Primary 
Sources. 

Another  reason  which  moved  me  to  make  use  of 
numerous  quotations  was  the  desire  to  show  what 
distinguished  historians  and  educators  outside  the 
Society,  particularly  non-Catholics,  both  in  America 
and  Europe,  have  said  on  the  educational  system  of 
the  Jesuits.  I  wished  also  to  call  attention  to  points 
of  contact  between  the  Ratio  Studiorum  and  other 
famous  educational  systems.  As  so  many  features  of 
the  Jesuit  system  have  been  misrepresented,  a  work 
of  this  kind  must,  at  times,  assume  a  polemical  atti- 
tude. Painful  as  controversy  is,  the  unfair  criticism 
of  many  writers  has  compelled  me  to  contest  their 
positions.  The  style  of  the  book  may  not  always  be  as 
smooth  as  is  desirable.  In  partial  extenuation  of  this 
defect,  it  should  be  stated  that  a  considerable  amount 
of  the  material  had  to  be  translated,  chiefly  from  the 
Latin,  German,  and  French.  It  has  been  my  prin- 
cipal aim  to  be  faithful  to  the  original,  and  in  general, 
to  write  in  the  simplest  possible  language,  so  as  to  let 
the  facts  speak  without  attempt  at  literary  embellish- 
ment. 

•  I  desire  to  acknowledge  my  obligation  to  several 
friends  of  Woodstock  College,  who  rendered  kind 
assistance  in  revising  the  manuscript  and  reading  the 
proofs.  In  particular  I  wish  to  thank  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Hanna  Frisbee,  S.  J. ,  editor  of  the  Woodstock  Letters, 
who  allowed  me  the  freest  use  of  the  Letters  and 

furnished  other  valuable  material. 

R.  S. 

WOODSTOCK  COLLEGE,  MARYLAND, 
March  12,  1903. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Introduction. 

Modern  Criticism  of  Jesuit  Education  ...       5 

PART  FIRST. 

History  of  the  Educational  System  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Education  before  the  Foundation  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

The  Jesuit  System  and  Early  Protestant  Schools       17 

§    i.   Schools  at  the  Close  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  Catholic  Church  and  Medieval  Education          21 
Primary  Schools  .......     23 

Secondary  Schools    ......         25 

Schools  in  Italy  .         .         .         .         .         .         .26 

Schools  in  Scotland  and  England  - .  .  .  28 
Schools  in  Germany,  France,  and  the  Netherlands  31 
The  Older  Humanists  in  Germany  .  .  -34 
Universities  .......  38 

§   2.    Character  of  Medieval  Education. 
Trivium  and  Quadrivium     .          .          .          .          -44 

Scholasticism 45 

Renaissance          .......  47 

Two  Schools  of  Humanists        ....  49 

Condition  of  Education  on  the  Eve  of  the  Refor- 
mation       .......  55 

(VII) 


VIII  CONTENTS- 

§  3.  Education  under  the  Influence  of  the 

Reformation. 

Luther's  Alliance  with  the  Humanists  .     57 

Decline  of  the  Schools       ....  60 

Luther's  Endeavor  to  Prevent  the  Total  Ruin  of 

the  Schools 65 

Effects  of  the  English  Reformation  on  the  Schools  69 
Catholic  Counter-Reformation  .  .  .  .  71 

\    CHAPTER  III. 
The  Society  of  Jesus.  —  Religious  as  Educators. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola,  his  Character  and  Aims  .  73 
The  Society  of  Jesus  ...  .76, 

Religious  as  Educators  .  .  .  .  .80 
The  Society  of  Jesus  the  First  Order  that  Made 

Education  of  Youth  a  Special  Ministry  .  87 
Opposition  to  the  Educational  Labors  of  Religious  98 

Constitutions  of  the  Society 101 

The  Fourth  Part  of  the  Constitutions  Treating  of 

Studies 103 

The  Society  and  Primary  Education  .  .  .104 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Ratio  Studiorum  of  1599. 
/  Plans  of  Studies  in  Jesuit  Colleges  Previous  to  the 

Ratio  Studiorum 107 

,  Care  in  Drawing  up  the  Plan  of  Studies       .          .    109 
/  Peculiar  Character  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum         .        114 

Officers  of  Jesuit  Colleges 115 

The  Literary  Curriculum:  Ancient  Languages         118 

The  Study  of  History 124 

Geography        .         .         .         .         .         .         .127 

Study  of  the  Mother-Tongue        .         .         .         .129 

The  Philosophical  Course          .         .         .         .131 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Mathematics  and  Sciences    .         .         .         »         .    133 
Sources  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum         .         .         .136 

V^HAPTKR  V. 

Jesuit  Colleges  and  Their  Work  before  the 
Suppression  of  the  Society  (1540 — 1773). 

Spread  of  Jesuit  Colleges    .         .         .          .144 

"  Superiority  of  the  Jesuit  Schools  according  to  the 

Testimony  of  Protestants   ....       145 

•^Literary  and  Scientific  Activity  of  Jesuit  Colleges  148 

/Languages  .       149 

Mathematics  and  Natural  Sciences        .         .         .155 

Geography        .         .         .         .  .         .158 

I  History         ........    160 

/  Literature          .         .         .         .         .         .         .161 

/  .School  Drama  of  the  Jesuits          .         .         .         .164 

Growing  Opposition  to  the  Society   .         .         .        173 

^  Suppression  of  the  Order 175 

^  Protection  of  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia  and 

Catharine  II  of  Russia        .         .         .         .176 
Efficiency  of  Jesuit  Colleges  at  the  Time  of  the 

Suppression 178 

Effects  of  the  Suppression  on  Education  in  Cath- 
olic Countries 184 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Revised  Ratio  of  1832  and  Later 
Regulations. 

S  Restoration  of  the  Society 189 

s  Revision  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum       .         .         .       191 
Philosophy  Preserved  as  Completion  of  College 

Training        .         .         .         .         .         .         .    195 

/  The  Ratio  of  1832  not  Final      .         .         .    -  197 

Later  Educational  Regulations     .         .         .         .198 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Educational  Work  of  the  Jesuits  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century. 

New  Growth  of  Jesuit  Colleges          .         .         .       200 
'Jesuit  Colleges  in  the  United  States      .         .         .201 

Colleges  in  Other  Countries      ....       206 

Efficiency  of  Jesuit  Schools 209 

/President  Eliot's-  Charges          ....       223 

Literary  and  Scientific  Work  of  the  Jesuits  during 

the  Last  Twenty-five  Years  .         .         .         .225 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Opposition  to  Jesuit  Education. 

Laws  against  Jesuit  Schools  ....  239 
General  Charges  against  the  Jesuit  Schools  .  .241 
Contradictory  Statements  of  Opponents  .  .  243 
Special  Charges:  "The  Jesuits  Educate  only  the 

Rich  and  Those  Who  Pay"  .         .          .         .247 
"Estrange  Children  from  the  Family''      .         .       250 
"Cripple  the  Intellect  and  Teach  Corrupt    Mor- 
ality"     251 

4  'Seek  Their  Own  Interest  in  Educational  Labors' '  254 
"Their  Education  Antinational  and  Unpatriotic"  255 
Causes  of  Opposition  among  Protestants  .  .  264 
Causes  of  Antipathy  of  Some  Catholics  .  .  269 


CONTENTS.  XI 


PART  SECOND. 

The  Principles  of  the  Ratio  Studioruni.      Its  Theory 

and  Practice  Viewed  in  the  Light  of  Modern 

Educational  Problems. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Adaptability  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum.— 
Prudent  Conservatism. 

Adaptability  and  Adaptation     .         .         .         .280 
Necessity  of  Wise  Conservatism  ....   288 

Lesson  from  Germany 289 

Lesson  from  American  Schools     ....   292 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Intellectual  Scope. 

Scope  of  Education:  Harmonious  Training  of  the 

Mind          .......       297 

Cramming  in  Modern  Systems      ....   300 

Premature  Specialization .         .         .         .  302 

Function  of  the  College 306 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Prescribed  Courses  or  Elective  Studies. 

Electivism  in  the  United  States         .         .         .  310 
President  Eliot  Censures  the  Jesuit  Colleges  for 

Adhering  to  Prescribed  Courses     .         .  -311 

Criticism  of  the  Elective  System        .         .         .  313 

Dangers  for  the  Moral  Training  .         .         .  .316 

Dangers  for  the  Intellectual  Training        .         .  322 

Election  almost  Impossible           .         .  .325 


XII  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Classical  Studies. 
Modern  Discussions  about  the  Value  of  the  Study 

of  the  Classics 330 

Distinguished  Men  Defend  Their  Value       .         .   333 
Advantages  Derived  from  the  Study  of  the  Clas- 
sics  for   the    Logical,    Historical,    Literary, 
Aesthetic,  and  Ethical  Training         .         .       346 
Beneficial  Results  for  the  Mother-Tongue    .         .   356 
Objections  against  the  Jesuit  Method  of  Teaching 

the  Classics 361 

The  Gaume  Controversy  and  the  Jesuits       .         .   366 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Syllabus  of  School  Authors. 

§   i.   General  Remarks. 

The  Study  of  Grammar 370 

Choice  of  Authors  in  Jesuit  Colleges  .  .  .  372 
§  2.  Latin  Prose  Writers  .  .  .  377 
§  3.  Latin  Poets  .....  385 
§  4.  Greek  Prose  Writers  .  .  -392 
§  5.  Greek  Poets  .....  399 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Scholarship  and  Teaching. 

Scholarship  in  Relation  to  Practical  Teaching  .  402 
Decline  of  Teaching  .....  404 
American  Scholarship 411 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Training  of  the  Jesuit  Teacher. 

The  Candidate  for  the  Order  .  .  .  .415 
Noviceship  and  Religious  Training  .  .  .417 
Study  of  Languages  and  Philosophy  after  the 

Noviceship 422 


CONTENTS.  XIII 

Influence  of  Uniform  Training  on  Individuality  .  425 
Immediate  Preparation  of  the  Jesuit  for  Teaching  432 

Permanent  Teachers 435 

Work  Assigned  according  to  Ability  .  .  .  439 
Class  Teachers,  not  Branch  Teachers  .  .  443 
Continued  Self-Training  of  the  Teacher  .  .  446 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Method  of  Teaching  in  Practice. 

§   i.    The  Prelection  or  Explanation  of  the 

Authors. 

Characteristic  Feature  of  the  Jesuit  Method      .  457 

Accurate  Pronunciation 458 

Translation  and  Explanation    .         .         .         .461 

Repetition    ........  466 

Specimens  of  Interpretation       ....  468 

Soundness  of  the  Method  of  the  Ratio  .         .         .  475 

Amount  of  Reading  ......  482 

Subject  and  Antiquarian  Explanation  .         .         .  485 

Explanation  of  Authors  in  the  Vernacular         .  491 

§   2.   Memory  Lessons. 

Importance  of  Memory  Lessons    ....  493 

Manner  of  Committing  to  Memory    .         .         .  496 

§  3.    Written  Exercises. 

Importance  and  Value  of  Compositions         .         .  498 

Subjects  to  be  Taken  from  Authors  Studied      .  499 

Correction 503 

Speaking  Latin         ......  506 

A  Lesson  from  Germany      .....  509 

§  4.    Contests  (Emulation). 
Emulation  in  School  Work       .         .         .         .511 

Various  Kinds  of  Contests,  Class  Matches    .         .515 

Academies 518 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Moral  Scope. 

The  Moral  Training  Neglected  by  Many  Teachers 

of  Our  Age 522 

Importance  Attached  to  the  Moral  Training  in 

Jesuit  Schools    .         .         .         .         .         .527 

Means  Employed          .         .         .          .         .         .   531 

Supervision       .......       537 

Private  Talks  with  Pupils 548 

Educational  Influence  of  Confession  .         .       550 

Communion          .......  557 

Devotions          .......       558 

The  Sodalities 560 

Watchfulness  in  Regard  to  Reading  .         .       564 

Good  and  Evil  Results  of  Sports  .         .         .         -569 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Religious  Instruction. 

Religious   Instruction  the   Basis  of   Solid   Moral 

Training    .  .   574 

Correctness  of  the  Catholic  Position  in  Regard  to 

Religion  and  Education     .         .         .         -577 
Undenominational  Religion  an  Absurdity     .         .   582 
The  Reading  of  the  Bible  not  Sufficient  for  Reli- 
gious Instruction 583 

Catholic  Position  ......  587 

Religious  Instruction  in  the  Jesuit  System         .       590 
Catechisms  Written  by  Jesuits      ....  592 

Peter  Canisius,  the  Model  Jesuit  Catechist         .       594 
Correlation  of  All  Branches  with   Religious   In- 
struction       .......   599 

Religious  Instruction  Necessary  also  in  Higher 

Schools      .......       605 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
School-Management. 

Trials  in  Teaching 608 

Particular  Points  of  School-Management: 

§   i.   Authority  .          .          .          .  .          .610 

§  2.   Punishments    .         .         .         .  .614 

§  3.   Impartiality        .         .         .  .          .619 

§  4.   Discipline  in  the  Classroom       .  .       623 

§  5.   Politeness  and  Truthfulness  .         .   626 

§  6.   Some  Special  Helps          .         .  .631 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Teacher's  Motives  and  Ideals. 

The  Chief  Motive  :  Utility  and  Dignity  of  the 

Work  of  Education  .....  636 

Illustrated  by  Analogies 638 

The  Ideal  and  Model  of  the  Teacher:  Christ,  the 

Great  Master 641 

Conclusion        .......       647 

Appendix  I:  Additions  and  Corrections  .  .  649 
Appendix  II:  Bibliography  ....  662 
Index 671 


OF  THE 


I   UNIVERSITY    ) 

OF 


CHAPTER  I. 
Introduction. 

We  are  living  in  an  age  of  school  reforms  and 
pedagogical  experiments.  The  question  of  higher 
education  in  particular  is  warmly  debated  in  England, 
France,  Germany,  and  the  United  States.  The 
respective  merits  of  rival  educational  systems  are 
topics  of  lively  discussion  and  comment  in  numberless 
books  and  articles.  New  "curricula"  are  planned  on 
all  sides,  and  new  courses  are  offered  in  the  various 
seats  of  learning.  Not  long  ago  it  was  stated  that 
"the  American  College  was  passing."  Harvard, 
Yale,  Columbia,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
other  leading  schools,  now  accept  the  studies  of  the 
professional  schools  as  meeting  the  requirements  of 
the  last  year  in  college.  Yale  University  was  also 
reported  as  making  ready  to  follow  in  the  wake  of 
Harvard  and  abolish  the  study  of  Greek  as  a  requisite 
for  admission.  The  University  of  Michigan,  abandon- 
ing the  attempt  to  distinguish  between  forms  of  ad- 
mission or  courses  of  study  pursued  in  the  college, 
will  give  up  degrees  like  bachelor  of  letters  or  bachelor 
of  philosophy,  and  confer  on  all  its  students  indis- 
criminately at  graduation  the  degree  of  bachelor  of 
arts,  in  this  respect  following  what  is  substantially  the 
procedure  of  Harvard.  Harvard,  with  its  system  of 
election,  election  in  the  preparatory  schools,  in  the 
college,  and  in  the  professional  schools,  is  the  fore- 


2  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

runner  in  the  revolution,  and  to  the  course  it  has  laid 
down  the  other  colleges  and  universities  either  have 
adapted  themselves  or  are  preparing  so  to  do.  "Facul- 
ties and  Presidents  are  trying  to  tear  down  the  old 
order  which  they  no  longer  honor."  l 

For  two  or  three  decades  various  attempts  and  ex- 
periments have  been  made  to  establish  a  "new order." 
But  the  dissatisfaction  seems  rather  to  grow  than  to 
diminish.  The  man  who  has  kept  in  touch  with 
pedagogical  publications  knows  right  well  that  there 
exists  in  our  high  schools  and  colleges  an  unsettled 
state  of  affairs  and  a  wide-spread  discontent  with 
present  methods.  Thus,  in  the  Educational  Review, 
we  find  the  following  statements:  "It  is  not  without 
reason  that  one  so  often  hears  the  state  of  the  educa- 
tional world  described  as  chaotic."2  The  first  sen- 
tence of  an  article  on  "L,atin  in  the  High  School" 
informs  us  that  "even  to  the  superficial  observer  it 
must  be  apparent  that  our  secondary  L,atin  teaching  is 
in  a  state  of  unrest."  "Further  proof  of  this  wide- 
spread feeling  of  insecurity  lies  in  the  susceptibility  of 
our  L,atin  teachers  to  fashions  or  'fads',  in  a  surprising 
readiness  to  adopt  innovations  and  carry  them  to  an 
extreme. ' ' 3  Many  will  not  care  much  for  the  "dead" 
languages,  if  only  the  "sciences"  are  taught  well. 

1  New  York  Sun,  March  3,  1901.  —  However,  at  the  last 
Commencement,  President  Hadley  of  Yale   declared  that  a 
careful  inquiry  made  among  the  masters  of  the  secondary 
schools  had  furnished  abundant  evidence  decidedly  unfavor- 
able to  this  change,  and  he  allowed  it  to  be  understood  that 
Greek  would  be  required  at  Yale  for  a  good  while  to  come. 
The  Yale  Alumni  Weekly,  July  31st,  1902,  pp.  430—32. 

2  Educational  Review,  1894,  p.  62. 
8    /£.,  p.  25. 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

What  is  said  about  the  sciences  ?  The  same  volume 
contains  an  article  entitled:  "The  Disappointing 
Results  of  Science  Teaching."  Therein  it  is  stated 
that  "the  results  of  the  teaching  of  science  in  schools 
of  all  kinds  have  been  very  disappointing  to  the 

friends  and  advocates  of  science  teaching The 

work  is  unsatisfactory  when  the  best  opportunities  are 
provided  and  skilled  teachers  devote  all  their  time  to 
it,  indeed  where  they  practically  have  everything  their 

own  way This  has  given  the  advocates  of  the 

older  literary  studies  a  chance  to  look  over  their 
spectacles  and  say:  'I  told  you  so.'  It  is  plain  that 
class-room  science-teaching  has  no  history  to  be  proud 
of,  but  the  reverse.  Something  is  radically  wrong 
when,  after  a  generation  of  science-teaching,  those 
who  have  had  the  best  available  teaching  in  it  do  not 
show  some  of  the  superiority  which  is  claimed  for  it  in 
insight,  tact,  skill,  judgment,  and  affairs  in  general."  1 
Complaints  of  a  similar  nature  can  be  found  in  more 
recent  publications. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  final  judgment  on  the 
modern  system  is  reserved  for  the  future.  If  we  con- 
sider the  results  obtained  within  the  last  ten  years,  it 
appears  unintelligible  that  many  writers  on  education 
are  so  unreserved  in  denouncing  systems  of  the  past, 
which  have  a  "history  to  be  proud  of."  Indeed,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  present  educational  movement  is 
characterized  by  a  morbid  craving  for  novelties,  but 
still  more  by  contempt  of  old  traditions.  Modern 
pedagogy  has  rightly  been  called  a  Proteus.  It 
daily  assumes  new  forms  so  that  even  its  most  ardent 
followers  seem  not  to  know  what  they  are  really 

1    /£.,  p.  485. 


4  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

grappling  with.  In  very  truth,  pedagogists  of  to-day 
appear  to  be  quite  certain  of  only  one  point,  that  "the 
old  is  worthless  and  that  something  new  must  be 
produced  at  any  price."  l 

We  do  not  deny  that  our  age  demands  "some- 
thing' '  new  in  education.  Growth  and  development  are 
necessary  in  educational  systems.  Every  age  and  every 
nation  has  its  own  spirit,  its  peculiar  ways  and  means 
to  meet  a  given  end,  and  these  very  ways  and  means 
inevitably  exert  a  great  influence  on  educational  meth- 
ods and  call  for  modifications  and  adaptations  of  what 
has  met  the  purpose  of  the  past.  An  educational  system , 
fitted  in  every  detail  to  all  times  and  all  nations,  is  an 
impossibility.  For  the  majority  of  cases  it  would  be  a 
Procrustean  bed.  It  would  be  folly,  therefore,  to  claim 
that  even  the  best  system  of  education  in  all  its 
details  were  as  fit  for  the  twentieth  century  as  for 
the  sixteenth,  or  that  the  same  system  in  its  entirety 
might  be  introduced  into  Japan  or  China  as  well  as 
into  Germany,  England  and  the  United  States. 

For  an  educational  system  must  aim  not  at  educat- 
ing men  in  general,  but  at  educating  the  youth  of  a 

1  See  Dr.  Dittes,  in  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
catioH)  1894 — 95,  vol.  I,  p.  332.  —  From  different  sides  com- 
plaints are  heard  that  many  educationists  of  to-day  are  con- 
spicuous for  their  contempt  of  all  that  was  venerated  for- 
merly. Dr.  Matthias  of  Berlin,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
schoolmen  of  Germany,  wrote  recently :  "Men  of  sound  judg- 
ment point  with  alarm  to  a  sort  of  pedagogical  pride  and 
arrogance  of  the  younger  teachers,  which  was  unknown  to 
the  older  generation."  Monatschrift  fur  hohere  Schulen, 
January  1902,  p.  9.  —  Similarly  Professor  Willmann  of  the 
University  of  Prague:  "A  morbid  hunting  after  novelties  and 
a  haughty  contempt  of  all  traditions  are  the  characteristics 
of  the  modern  educational  agitation."  In  Vigilate,  I,  p,  31. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

certain  age  in  a  certain  country.  Hence  the  necessity 
of  changes,  of  development.  Education  is  something 
living  and  must  grow,  otherwise  it  will  soon  wither 
and  decay.  There  are,  however,  certain  fundamental 
principles,  certain  broad  outlines  of  education,  based 
on  sound  philosophy  and  the  experience  of  centuries, 
which  suffer  no  change.  Unfortunately,  it  is  some  of 
these  principles  which  have  been  abandoned  by 
modern  pedagogists,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  many 
" school  reforms"  of  these  days  have  proved  mere 
" school  changes"  or,  as  Professor  Miinsterberg  of 
Harvard  University  styles  them,  "school  deteriora- 
tions. ' '  1  This  important  distinction  between  what  is 
essential  and  what  is  accidental  in  education,  has  too 
frequently  been  disregarded  by  those  advocates  of  the 
new  system  who  claim  that  the  old  principles  and 
methods  must  be  given  up,  because  they  are  not 
suited  to  cope  with  modern  conditions.  What  is  but 
secondary  in  education,  as  for  instance  the  election  of 
courses  and  branches,  has  been  proclaimed  to  be  of 
vital  importance,  and  its  absence  in  the  older  systems 
has  been  considered  as  the  strongest  proof  that  these 
systems  are  entirely  antiquated.  This  mistake  has 
more  than  once  been  made  by  those  who  attack  one  of 
the  celebrated  old  systems,  the  Ratio  Studiorum  of  the 
Jesuits. 

Only  three  years  ago,  President  Eliot  of  Harvard 
University,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  American 
Institute  of  Instruction,  July  10,  1899,  advocated  the 
extension  of  electivism  to  secondary  or  high  schools.2 


i 


Atlantic  Monthly,  May  1900. 
2    The    paper    was    printed    in    the    Atlantic  Monthly^ 
October  1899. 


6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

As  opposed  to  his  favorite  system,  President  Eliot 
mentioned  "the  method  followed  in  Moslem  countries, 
where  the  Koran  prescribes  the  perfect  education  to  be 
administered  to  all  children  alike.  Another  instance 
of  uniform  prescribed  education  may  be  found  in  the 
curriculum  of  Jesuit  colleges,  which  has  remained 
almost  unchanged  for  four  hundred  years,  disregarding 
some  trifling  concessions  made  to  natural  sciences." 
The  President  further  declared  that  "the  immense 
deepening  and  expanding  of  human  knowledge  in  the 
nineteenth  century  and  the  increasing  sense  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  individual's  gifts  and  will-power  have 
made  uniform  prescriptions  of  study  in  secondary 
schools  impossible  and  absurd. ' ' 

As  the  Jesuits,  together  with  the  Moslems,  are  said 
to  uphold  prescribed  courses,  they  are  implicitly 
charged  with  attempting  what  is  "absurd,"  nay  "im- 
possible." In  our  days  of  critical  and  fair-minded 
research,  such  sweeping  condemnations  are  beyond 
excuse ;  they  show  forth  no  careful  and  impartial 
examination  of  the  system  censured.  But  we  have 
reasons  to  suspect  that  lack  of  sympathy  and  of  knowledge 
impairs  the  judgment  of  most  opponents  of  the  Jesuits. 
"True  criticism,"  writes  a  distinguished  English 
historian,  "must  be  sympathetic;"  l  where  there  is 
antipathy  a  false  appreciation  is  inevitable.  That 
lack  of  sympathy  has  led  many  critics  into  unfair  dis- 
criminations in  regard  to  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits,  can  be  proved  by  numerous  instances.  In  the 
sixteenth  century,  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic 
schools  made  Latin  the  principal  subject  matter  of 

1  Professor  Rainsay  iii  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire 
before  A.  D.  170.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1893,  p.  VIII. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

instruction,  and  the  study  of  the  mother  tongue  was 
well  nigh  neglected.  In  many  Protestant  schools  the 
use  of  the  Latin  language  in  conversation,  school 
exercises  and  dramatic  performances  was  more  strictly 
enforced  than  in  Jesuit  colleges,  and  those  who  spoke 
the  vernacular  were  punished.1  Should  we  not  sup- 
pose that  in  Protestant  and  Jesuit  schools  the  same 
reasons  suggested  the  use  of  the  Latin  tongue?  Some 
Protestant  critics  assign  quite  different  reasons,  but 
without  proof.  In  a  work  published  by  order  of  the 
Prussian  Ministry  for  Instruction,2  we  find  the  follow- 
ing :  "The  School  System  of  Saxony  of  1528  provided 
Latin  schools  pure  and  simple.  Why?  Because  it 
demanded  an  extraordinary  amount  of  time  to  make 
Latinists  of  German  boys,  so  that  little  time  and 
energy  were  left  for  other  subjects.  Melanchthon,  for 
this  reason,  excluded  even  Greek  from  his  plan  of 
studies.  As  Latin,  at  that  time,  was  the  universal 
language  of  all  Western  Christendom,  the  official 
language  of  the  Roman  Church  and  of  diplomatic 
intercourse,  the  language  of  the  most  celebrated  code 
of  laws,  the  only  language  of  learning,  mastery  of  this 
language  was  the  first  and  indispensable  condition  for 
a  career  in  Church  and  State,  and  for  every  participa- 
tion in  the  higher  intellectual  life."  However,  when 
.speaking  of  the  great  stress  laid  on  Latin  in  the  Jesuit 
schools,  the  same  author  does  not  hesitate  to  assert : 
"A  more  zealous  cultivation  of  the  mother  tongue 

1  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  auf  den 
deutschen  Schulen  und  UniversMten  vom  Ausgang  des  Mittel- 
alters  bis  zur  Gegenwart,  p.  239.  (2.  ed.  vol.  I,  p.  352.) 

5  Deutschlands  hoheres  Schulwesen  im  neunzehnten  Jahr- 
hundert,  von  Professor  Dr.  Conrad  Rethwisch.  Berlin,  1893, 
p.  12. 


8  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

would  have  opposed  the  Romish -inter  national  tenden- 
cies of  the  Order. ' '  l  Here  we  must  ask  :  Was  not 
the  Latin  language,  for  Catholics  as  well  as  for  Pro- 
testants, the  language  of  learning,  of  diplomatic  in- 
tercourse, of  the  most  celebrated  code  of  laws?  And 
was  not  the  mastery  of  this  language,  equally  for  the 
Catholics,  the  indispensable  condition  for  a  career  in 
Church  and  State,  and  for  every  participation  in  the 
higher  intellectual  life?  Consequently,  the  Jesuits 
had  to  insist  on  this  language  as  well  as  the  Protes- 
tants, and  that  for  the  very  same  reasons.  Why,  then, 
impute  to  them  other  motives  of  rather  a  suspicious 
character  ? 

Nor  are  scholarly  works  of  prominent  American 
writers  free  from  similar  misstatements.  Dr.  Russell, 
Dean  of  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University, 
writes:  "Catholic  and  Protestant  schools  alike  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  gave  little  heed 
to  the  substance  of  the  ancient  civilization.  Both 
alike  were  earnestly  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Latin 
language  —  the  Jesuits,  because  it  was  the  universal 
speech  of  their  Order;  the  Protestants,  because  it  was 
the  first  step  towards  a  knowledge  of  Holy  Writ. ' '  2 
No  proof  is  given  to  substantiate  the  discrimination 
between  Protestants  and  Catholics.  Latin  was,  as 

1  Ib.y  p.  2.     There  it  is  also  stated  that   "the  greatest 
Greek  authors  were  all  excluded  from  the  Jesuit  schools,  and 
that  the  mother  tongue  and  its  literature  received  some  atten- 
tion for  the  first  time  in  the  Revised  Ratio  of  1832."     How 
utterly  false  these  assertions  are  will  appear  from  later  chap- 
ters of  this  book.     Suffice  it  to  state  here  that  among  the 
Greek  authors  studied  in  Jesuit  schools  were  Homer,  Sopho- 
cles, Kuripides,  Demosthenes,  etc.     See  below  chapter  XIII, 
§  1,  4 — 5.     On  the  study  of  the  mother  tongue  see  chapter  IV. 

2  German  Higher  Schools,  New  York,  1899,  p.  50. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

Dr.  Rethwisch  affirms,  "the  universal  language  of  all 
Western  Christendom,"  not  only  the  universal  speech 
of  the  Order  of  Jesuits.  Besides,  as  the  Catholics 
used  extensively  the  Latin  Vulgate  of  the  Bible,  the 
study  of  I^atin  was  for  them  much  more  than  for  the 
Protestants  "the  first  step  towards  a  knowledge  of 
Holy  Writ." 

Lack  of  sympathy  is  the  least  unworthy  reason 
assignable  for  President  Eliot's  grouping  of  only 
Jesuits  and  Moslems  as  the  upholders  of  prescribed 
courses.  Have  not  all  European  countries  prescribed 
courses  that  resemble  the  system  of  the  Jesuits  incom- 
parably more  than  President  Eliot's  electivism?  Ger- 
many, for  instance,  although  it  offers  various  schools  : 
classical  (Gymnasium) ,  Latin-scientific  (Real- Gym- 
nasium), scientific  (Real-Schule),  has  within  these 
schools  strictly  uniform  curricula.  x  And  yet  American 
educators  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  "the  organization 
of  the  higher  school  system,  especially  in  Prussia,  is 
worthy  of  general  imitation;"  that  "for  many  years 
American  educators  have  drawn  professional  inspira- 
tion from  German  sources ;"  that  "the  experience  of 
Germany  can  teach  us  much,  if  we  will  but  learn  to 
consider  it  aright ;"  and  that  ua  uniform  course  of  study 
for  all  schools  of  a  particular  grade,  and  a  common 
standard  for  promotion  and  graduation,  can  be  made 
most  serviceable  in  a  national  scheme  of  education."2 

1  It  is  only  since  1901  that,  in  the  three  middle  classes 
of  the  Gymnasium,  English  may  be  taken  as  an  alternative 
for    Greek ;    in   the   three    highest    classes    Greek    remains 
obligatory.     Besides  in  these  three  classes  English  or  French 
may  be  taken  (just  as  in  many  Jesuit  Colleges  in  this  country 
French  or  German  is  obligatory). 

2  Dr.  Russell,  /.  c.y  pp.  V,  409,  422.    (Italics  are  ours.)— 
See  also  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1888 — 1889, 


10  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Why  then  mention  only  Jesuits  and  Moslems  ?  Con- 
sidering the  esteem  in  which  German  schools  and 
scholarship  are  held  by  many,  it  would  evidently  have 
produced  little^€8ect  to  have  said:  " Moslems,  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Germans  have  prescribed  courses. ' ' 

Many  writers  on  education  have  been  misled  in 
their  estimate  of  the  Jesuit  system  by  blindly  accept- 
ing and  uncritically  repeating  the  censures  of  a  few 
authors  who,  deservedly  or  not,  have  acquired  a 
reputation  as  pedagogical  writers.  Thus  Quick,  in 
numerous  passages  of  his  Educational  Reformers,  pays 
a  high  tribute  to  the  Jesuit  system.  In  a  few  places, 
especially  in  one  paragraph,  he  finds  fault  with  it.  In 
some  American  works l  we  find  this  one  paragraph 
quoted  as  Quick's  judgment  on  the  Jesuit  system,  and 
not  a  word  is  said  of  his  hearty  approbation  of  most 
points  of  that  system.  It  is  also  most  unfortunate  that 
American  teachers  and  writers  on  education  place  so 
much  confidence  in  the  productions  of  M.  Compayre, 
especially  his  History  of  Pedagogy.  For  many  reasons 
this  work  must  be  called  a  most  unreliable  source  of 

Vol.  I,  pp.  32—74,  especially  pp.  70  foil,  where  it  is  stated 
that  ''the  superiority  of  German  public  schools  over  those  of 
other  nations  has  been  acknowledged  repeatedly."  In  an- 
other place  of  the  same  Report  (1891 — 92),  Vol.  I,  p.  140,  the 
words  of  Dr.  Joynes  of  the  University  of  S.  C.  are  quoted: 
"Germany  has  now  become  the  schoolmistress  of  the  world." 
1  So  in  the  histories  of  education  by  Painter  and  Seeley. 
—  I  wish  to  state  here  that  of  all  American  text-books  on  the 
history  of  education  the  latest,  the  History  of  Education,  by 
Professor  Kemp,  (Philadelphia,  Lippincott,  1902)  is  the  most 
impartial.  The  chapter  on  the  Jesuits  (XVIII.)  is  singularly 
free  from  the  misrepresentations  which  are  so  numerous  in 
other  text-books.  In  one  point,  however,  regarding  "emula- 
tion," the  author  is  mistaken.  See  below,  ch.  XVI,  §  4. 


INTRODUCTION.  1 1 

information.1  In  the  chapter  on  the  Jesuits  in  par- 
ticular, there  are  not  many  sentences  which  do  not 
contain  some  misstatement.  Whereas  nearly  all 
writers,  even  those  most  hostile  to  the  Society, 
acknowledge  at  least  a  few  good  points  in  its  educa- 
tional system,  Compayre  cannot  admit  therein  a  single 
redeeming  feature.  The  Jesuits  are  blamed  alike  in 
their  failures  and  in  their  successes.  It  is  sad  to  think 
that  from  such  untrustworthy  sources  American 
teachers  largely  derive  their  information  about  the 
educational  labors  of  the  Jesuits  and  of  Catholics  in 
general.  Can  we  wonder  that  so  many  prejudices 
prevail  against  Jesuit  education,  of  which  many  know 
only  an  ugly  caricature? 

Indeed,  lack  of  sufficient  knowledge  is  at  the  root 
of  'most  censures  of  the  educational  principles  and 
methods  of  the  Society.  In  nearly  every  case  of 
adverse  criticism,  it  is  apparent  that  a  scholarly 
examination  of  the  official  documents  has  been  dis- 

1  Br.  Azarias  calls  this  work  a  "condensation  of  all 
virulence  and  hatred  against  everything  Catholic,  but  ill  con- 
cealed beneath  a  tone  of  philosophic  moderation."  American 
Ecclesiastical  Review,  1890,  p.  80.  foil.  —  Another  critic  said 
recently  of  M.  Compayre:  "He  misquotes  and  suppresses, 
blinded,  I  suppose,  by  a  bad  form  of  Anti-Jesuit  disease.  You 
can  certainly  learn  from  his  book  the  fury  of  that  malady.  In 
France,  one  may  fairly  say,  M.  Compayre  is  recognized  as 
meaning  to  attack  the  beliefs  of  Christian  pupils,  and  as 
ranging  himself  essentially  on  the  side  of  those  who  wish  'to 
eliminate  the  hypothesis  of  God'  from  the  education  of  chil- 
dren." (This  opinion  was  expressed  in  a  resolution  of  five 
hundred  teachers  in  a  meeting  at  Bordeaux  in  1901.)  Mr. 
Stockley,  of  the  University  of  New  Brunswick,  in  the  Amer- 
ican Ecclesiastical  Review,  July  1902,  p.  44.  —  See  also  the 
criticism  of  Father  Poland,  S.  J.,  in  the  American  Catholic 
Quarterly  Review,  January  1902. 


12  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

pensed  with,  and  that  the  oft-refuted  calumnies  of 
virulent  partisan  pamphlets  have  simply  been  repeated. 
Or  have  the  assailants  of  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits  carefully  studied  the  original  sources :  the 
Fourth  Part  of  the  Constitutions,  the  Ratio  Studiorum, 
and  the  numerous  other  documents  of  the  Society, 
treating  of  its  educational  system?  Or  have  they 
themselves  studied  in  Jesuit  colleges?  Have  their 
children,  relatives  or  friends  been  Jesuit  pupils?  Have 
they  been  sufficiently  acquainted  with  Jesuit  teachers? 
If  not,  is  it  fair  and  conscientious  criticism  to  condemn 
a  system  about  which  they  possess  no  reliable  informa- 
tion whatever?  If  now-a-days  one  writes  on  the 
philosophy  of  India,  on  the  doctrine  of  Zoroaster,  or 
on  the  education  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  he 
adorns  his  books  with  an  elaborate  scientific  apparatus. 
He  studies  the  original  languages  or  consults  the  best 
translations  and  commentaries,  and  spares  no  pains  to 
let  the  reader  know  that  he  has  drawn  from  trust- 
worthy sources.  How  much  more  care  should  be 
taken  if,  not  philosophic  systems  or  nations  of  a  far-off 
past,  but  a  living  institution  is  concerned?  No  matter 
how  much  opposed  it  may  be  to  the  critic's  views,  fair 
treatment  and  justice  should  never  be  denied,  even  if 
all  sympathy  is  withheld.  But  a  few  years  ago  a 
Protestant  writer  in  Germany,  reviewing  Father 
Duhr's  work  on  the  educational  system  of  the  Society, 
recommended  the  work  most  earnestly  to  the  Protes- 
tant educators;  for,  as  he  said,  "even  our  scholarly 
works  on  education  betray  a  shocking  ignorance  in 
regard  to  everything  pertaining  to  the  Jesuits."  *  It 

1     Central-Organ  fur  die  inter cssen  dcs  Realschuhvesens> 
Berlin. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

is  needless  to  say  that  this  remark  has  an  application 
for  America  and  England. 

The  study  of  this  system  cannot  be  without  interest 
to  those  who  devote  themselves  to  educating  youth. 
During  the  two  centuries  preceding  the  suppression  of 
the  Order,  this  system  exerted  a  world-wide  influence 
on  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pupils,  and,  although  in 
a  lesser  degree,  does  so  at  present.1  In  1901  the 
Jesuits  imparted  a  higher  education  to  more  than  fifty- 
two  thousand  youths,  of  which  number  seven  thousand 
two  hundred  belong  to  this  country.  The  educational 
work  of  the  Jesuits  produced  most  brilliant  results  in 
former  centuries  and  received  most  flattering  commen- 
dations from  Protestant  scholars  and  rulers,  and  from 
atheistic  philosophers. 

However,  the  study  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  not 
only  of  historical  interest.  Protestant  writers  admit 
that  a  close  examination  of  the  Jesuit  system  may 
teach  the  educators  of  our  age  many  valuable  lessons. 
According  to  Quick  "it  is  a  system,  a  system  built 
up  by  the  united  efforts  of  many  astute  intellects  and 
showing  marvellous  skill  in  selecting  means  to  attain 
a  clearly  conceived  end.  There  is  then  in  the  history 
of  education  little  that  should  be  more  interesting  or 
might  be  more  instructive  to  the  master  of  an  English 
public  school  than  the  chapter  about  the  Jesuits. ' ' 2 
Davidson,  in  spite  of  some  severe  strictures,  is  not 
less  convinced  of  the  advantages  which  may  be  derived 

1  Quick  prefers  to  speak  of  the  Jesuit  schools  as  '  'things 
of  the  past."     Compayre  thinks  otherwise:  "They  are  more 
powerful  than  is  believed  ;  and  it  would  be  an  error  to  think 
that  the  last  word  is  spoken  with  them."    Quick,  Educ. 

p.  35,  note. 

2  Educational  Reformers,  p.  59. 


14  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

from  the  .study  of  Jesuit  education:  "While  it  is  im- 
possible for  lovers  of  truth  and  freedom  to  have  any 
sympathy  with  either  the  aim  or  matter  of  Jesuit 
education,  there  is  one  point  connected  with  it  that 
well  deserves  our  most  serious  consideration,  and  that 
is  its  success.  This  was  due  to  three  causes,  first,  to 
the  single-minded  devotion  of  the  members  of  the 
Society;  second,  to  their  clear  insight  into  the  needs  of 
their  times;  third,  to  the  completeness  with  which 
they  systematized  their  entire  course,  in  view  of  a 
simple,  well-defined  aim.  In  all  these  matters  wre  can 
well  afford  to  imitate  them.  Indeed,  the  education  of 
the  present  day  demands  just  the  three  conditions 
which  they  realized. ' ' l 

For  many  the  study  of  one  of  the  old  systems  may 
be  the  greatest  novelty.  So  much  is  said  now-a-days 
about  the  new  pedagogy  and  modern  psychology,  that 
it  might  appear  as  if  the  past  had  been  utterly  igno- 
rant of  the  true  nature  of  the  child  and  of  the  rational 
methods  of  education.  Still  the  writer  hopes  to  es- 
tablish that,  what  the  ablest  educators,  even  of  our 
own  age,  have  pronounced  essential  for  the  training  of 
the  young,  is  contained  in  the  educational  system  of 
the  Jesuits.  It  is  not  claimed  that  this  system  is  per- 
fect. No  educational  system  can  be  found  which, 
both  in  plan  and  execution,  is  without  defects.  The 
Society  of  Jesus  has  never  denied  the  possibility  and 
necessity  of  improvements  in  its  educational  system; 
nor  has  it  ever  claimed  that  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  in 
every  detail  was  to  be  applied  to  all  countries  and  to 
all  ages.  Changes  were  made  in  the  course  of  time; 

1  A  History  of  Education  (New  York,  Scribiier's  Sons> 
1900;,  p.  187. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

and  in  many  passages  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum  it  is 
expressly  stated  that  the  Superiors  are  empowered  to 
make  these  changes,  according  to  the  demands  of  time 
and  place.  Thus  the  teaching  of  the  Jesuits  varies 
considerably  in  different  countries,  without  necessitat- 
ing any  change  in  the  Order's  legislation  on  education. 
A  biographer  of  the  founder  of  the  Society  says 
with  reference  to  the  educational  system  of  the  Order: 
"It  is  a  plan  which  admits  of  every  legitimate  progress 
and  perfection,  and  what  Ignatius  said  of  the  Society 
in  general,  may  be  applied  to  its  system  of  studies  in 
particular,  namely,  that  it  ought  to  suit  itself  to  the 
times  and  comply  with  them,  and  not  make  the  times 
suit  themselves  to  it. ' ' 1  The  advice  of  St.  Ignatius  is 
undoubtedly  of  vital  importance  to  the  Order,  if  now 
and  in  future  it  wants  to  do  the  work  for  which  it  was 
instituted.  In  fact,  the  versatility  of  the  Jesuits  has 
become  proverbial  and  a  reproach  to  the  Order;  they 
are  said  to  be  so  shrewd  and  cunning  that,  among  those 
hostile  to  the  Order,  the  very  word  "Jesuit"  has  come 
to  mean  the  incarnation  of  craft  and  subtlety.  Is  it 
probable  that  the  Jesuits  on  a  sudden  have  utterly  for- 
gotten the  all-important  injunction  of  their  founder? 
Is  it  probable  that  they  who  are  said  to  be  most  am- 
bitious and  most  anxious  of  success,  have  so  little 
suited  themselves  to  the  times,  as  to  leave  their  method 
of  teaching  unchanged  for  centuries?  Is  it  possible 
that  the  men  who,  as  Davidson  says,  had  such  "a 
clear  insight  into  the  needs  of  their  times"  do  not 
adapt  their  system  to  the  needs  of  our  age?  Or  is 
their  system  not  capable  of  being  suited  to  modern 
times?  This  indeed  is  the  favorite  objection  raised 

1     Genelli,  Life  of  St.  Ignatius,  part  II,  cli.  VII. 


1 6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

now-a-days.  "The  Ratio  Studiorum  is  antiquated  and 
difficult  to  reform.  .  .  For  nearly  three  centuries  they 
[the  Jesuits]  were  the  best  schoolmasters  of  Europe; 
they  revolutionized  instruction  as  completely  as  Fred- 
erick the  Great  modern  warfare,  and  have  thus  acted, 
whether  they  meant  it  or  not,  as  pioneers  of  human 
progress.  .  .  Whatever  may  have  been  the  service  of 
the  Jesuits  in  past  times,  we  have  little  to  hope  for 
them  in  the  improvement  of .  education  at  present. 
Governments  have,  on  the  whole,  acted  wisely  by 
checking  and  suppressing  their  colleges. "  1  At  any 
rate,  the  study  of  a  system  which  for  "centuries  furn- 
ished the  best  schoolmasters  of  Europe  and  completely 
revolutionized  instruction",  must  be  interesting  for  the 
student  of  the  history  of  education.  For  this  reason 
we  first  present  the  history,  or  the  development,  of  this 
system.  In  the  second  part  we  shall  explain  its  prin- 
ciples, its  theory  and  practice,  with  special  reference 
to  modern  educational  views. 

1    Oscar  Browning  in  the   Encyclopedia  Britannica,  ar- 
ticle :    '  'Education ' ' . 


PART  FIRST. 

History  of  the  Educational  System  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Education    before   the    Foundation   of    the   Society 
of  Jesus. 

The  following  remarkable  passage  is  taken  from 
trie  work  of  one  who  cannot  be  charged  with  partiality 
to  the  Jesuits,  —  I  mean  Frederick  Paulsen,  a  professor 
of  the  University  of  Berlin,  the  author  of  the  great 
''History  of  Higher  Education."  J  In  this  work,  after 
having  described  the  marvellous  success  which  the 
Jesuits  achieved  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  author 
asks:  "What  was  the  secret  source  of  the  power  of 
these  men?  Was  it  that  they  were  'men  filled  with 
wickedness',  as  Raumer  styles  them?  Or  was  it  that 
they  were  more  cunning,  more  unscrupulous  than  the 
rest?  No,  this  would  ascribe  to  lying  and  deceit  more 
than  it  can  do.  ...  There  is  in  the  activity  of  the 
Order  something  of  the  quiet,  yet  irresistible,  manner 
of  working  which  we  find  in  the  forces  of  nature. 
Certainty  and  superiority  characterize  every  move- 

1  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  auf  den  deutschen 
Schiilen  und  Universit&ten  vont  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters  bis 
zur  Gegenwart.  Leipzig,  1885,  p.  281  foil.  (2.  ed.  I,  p.  408.) 

2  (17) 


1 8  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

ment.  .  .  .  Whence  does  the  Order  derive  this  power  ? 
I  think  it  can  arise  only  from  a  great  idea,  not  from 
base  and  selfish  desires.  Now  the  root  idea  which 
animated  all  the  members  of  this  Society,  and  which 
inspired  them  with  enthusiasm,  was  that  their  Order 
was  the  chosen  instrument  for  saving  the  Church; 
that  they  were  the  knights,  the  champions,  of  the  ruler 
of  the  Church,  ready,  if  God  should  so  will  it,  to  fall 
as  first  victims  in  the  great  battle  against  a  heathen 
and  heretical  world.  .  .  .  pasting  results  cannot  be 
achieved  by  an  idea  unless  it  is  embodied  in  some 
external  system.  The  system  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
from  the  fundamental  principles  to  the  minutest  details 
of  discipline,  is  admirably  fitted  and  adapted  to  its 
ends.  The  greatest  possible  power  of  the  individual 
is  preserved  without  derangement  of  the  organism  of 
the  Order;  spontaneous  activity  and  perfect  submission 
of  the  will,  contrasts  almost  irreconcilable,  seem  to 
have  been  harmoniously  united  in  a  higher  degree  by 
the  Society  than  by  any  other  body. ' ' 

These  remarks  of  the  Berlin  Professor  were  made 
with  special  reference  to  the  educational  system  of  the 
Society,  as  laid  down  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  Years 
before  another  German  Protestant  had  spoken  similar- 
ly on  the  same  subject.  Ranke,  in  his  History  of  the 
Popes,  admits  that  the  Jesuits  were  very  successful  in 
the  education  of  youth,  but  he  claims  that  this  suc- 
cess can  scarcely  be  credited  to  their  learning  or  their 
piety,  but  rather  to  the  exactness  and  nicety  of  their 
methods.  He  finds  in  their  system  a  combination  of 
learning  with  untiring  zeal,  of  exterior  pomp  with 
strict  asceticism,  of  unity  of  aim  with  unity  of  govern- 
ment, such  as  the  world  has  never  witnessed  before 
or  since. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    19 

Now-a-days  a  great  interest  is  taken  in  the  histori- 
cal aspects  of  educational  systems.  The  first  question, 
then,  which  presents  itself  is:  From  what  sources  did 
the  Jesuits  derive  the  principles  and  methods  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  obtain  such  success?  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Jesuit  system  was  not  altogether  the 
original  work  of  a  few  clever  men  who  produced  a 
system  with  methods  previously  unheard  of;  their 
Ratio  Studiorum  was,  to  a  great  extent,  a  prudent 
adaptation  and  development  of  methods  which  had 
existed  before  the  foundation  of  the  Order.  It  has 
frequently  been  maintained  that  all,  or  at  least  much, 
of  what  is  good  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  was  drawn 
from  the  famous  Plan  of  Studies  of  John  Sturm,  the 
zealous  Protestant  reformer  and  schoolman  of  Stras- 
burg.  Dr.  Russell  is  convinced  of  this  fact,  when  he 
writes:  " Sturm  could  have  received  no  greater  com- 
pliment than  was  paid  him  by  the  Society  of  Jesus  in 
incorporating  so  many  of  his  methods  into  the  new 
Catholic  schools."  A  Indeed,  Sturm  himself  expressed 
in  1565  the  suspicion  that  the  Jesuits  had  drawn  from 
his  sources.2  As  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapters, 
both  Sturm  and  Ignatius  of  Loyola  drew,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, from  the  same  sources,  namely,  the  traditions 
of  the  great  University  of  Paris  and  the  humanistic 
schools  of  the  Netherlands. 

It  is  a  very  common  error  to  argue:  post  hoc,  ergo 
propter  hoc.  Anything  good  found  after  the  Protestant 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  by  many 
writers  directly  ascribed  to  its  influence.  Thus  it  is 
said  that,  after  the  Protestants  had  awakened  a  zeal 

1  German  Higher  Schools^  p.  47. 

2  "  Ut  a  nostris  fontibus  derivata  esse  videatur."     See 
Duhr,  Studienordnung,  p.  7. 


20  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

for  learning,  the  Jesuits  determined  to  avail  themselves 
of  this  zeal  in  the  interest  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
to  combat  the  Reformation  with  its  own  weapon.1  To 
the  same  purpose  Dr.  Russell  writes:  "The  Jesuits  in 
employing  schools  to  check  the  growth  of  heresy  and 
to  win  back  to  the  Church  apostate  Germany,  merely 
borrowed  the  devil's  artillery  to  fight  the  devil  with. 
And  they  used  it  to  good  effect. ' ' 2  Two  serious  errors 
are  at  the  root  of  such  statements  :  First,  it  is  taken 
for  granted  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  instituted 
directly  against  Protestantism,  and  that  it  used  schools 
and  learning  only  to  counteract  this  movement.  In 
the  next  chapter  we  shall  prove  that  this  view  of  the 
Society  is  entirely  unhistorical.  The  second  error 
underlying  this  view  is  the  implicit  belief  that,  before 
the  Protestant  Reformation,  education  was  at  a  very 
low  ebb,  and  that  there  existed  little,  if  any,  zeal  for 
learning.  In  order  to  understand  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  the  educational  system  of  the  Jesuits  and  its 
dependence  on  other  schools,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
sketch  the  status  of  education  in  Western  Christendom 
before  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  This 
sketch  must  be  very  imperfect  and  fragmentary  in  a 
work  like  the  present.  Besides,  there  exists  as  yet  no 
history  of  education  in  the  Middle  Ages  which  can  be 
considered  as  satisfactory,  although  some  valuable 
monographs  on  the  subject  have  appeared  within  the 
past  few  years.3 

1  American  Cyclopedia  (ed.  1881),  article:  "Education". 

2  L.  c.y  p.  47.  —  So  also  Seeley,  History  of  Education, 
p.  182. 

3  The   following  works  are  the  chief  ones  consulted: 
Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  auf  den  deut- 
schen  Schulen  und  Universitaten  vom  Ausgang  des  Mittel- 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    21 

§i.     Schools  at  the  Close  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  intellectual  darkness  of  the  Middle  Ages  has 
been  long  a  favorite  theme  for  popular  writing.  Many 
have  had  the  fixed  notion  that  the  Church,  afraid  of 
progress,  ever  set  her  face  against  the  enlightenment  of 
the  people,  but  that  at  length  her  opposition  was 
beaten  down  by  the  craving  for  knowledge  aroused  by 
the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  and  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  break  with  Rome,  various  schools  at 
once  arose  in  Protestant  countries.  Such  popular 
declamations  have  been  disavowed  by  all  honest  Pro- 
testant historians.1  They  admit  that,  what  may  be 
called  the  darkness  of  these  centuries,  was  owing  to 
the  political  and  social  conditions  of  the  nations  after 
the  Northern  barbarians  had  nearly  annihilated  ancient 
civilization,  but  not  to  any  hostility  of  the  Church 
against  learning  and  education.  "The  grossest  igno- 
rance of  the  Dark  Ages,"  says  an  English  historian, 
"was  not  due  to  the  strength  of  the  ecclesiastical 
system,  but  to  its  weakness.  The  improvement  of 
education  formed  a  prominent  object  with  every 
zealous  churchman  and  every  ecclesiastical  reformer 
from  the  days  of  Gregory  the  Great  to  the  days  when 
the  darkness  passed  away  under  the  influence  of  the 

alters  bis  zur  Gegenwart.  Leipzig  1885.  —  Specht,  Geschichte 
des  Unterrichtswesens  in  Deutschland  bis  zur  Mitte  des 
dreizehnten  Jahrhunderts.  Stuttgart,  Cotta,  1885. — Jaiissen, 
History  of  the  German  People,  I,ondon,  Kegan  Paul,  1896, 
vol.  I.  —  Gasquet,  The  Eve  of  the  Reformation,  New  York, 
Putnam's  Sons,  1900.  —  Rashdall,  Universities  of  Europe  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  2  vols.  Oxford  1895.  —  See  also  West, 
Alcuin  and  the  Rise  of  the  Christian  Schools.  New  York, 
Scribner's  Sons,  1892.  (The  Great  Educators  Series.) 
1  See  Maitlaud,  The  Dark  Ages. 


22  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ecclesiastical  revival  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 
turies."1 

In  another  passage  of  his  great  work  the  same 
author  says  of  education  before  the  Reformation:  "It 
may  be  stated  with  some  confidence  that,  at  least  in 
the  later  middle  age,  the  smallest  towns  and  even  the 
larger  villages  possessed  schools  where  a  boy  might 
learn  to  read  and  to  acquire  the  first  rudiments  of 
ecclesiastical  L,atin,  while,  except  in  very  remote  and 
thinly  populated  regions,  he  would  never  have  to  go 
far  to  find  a  regular  grammar  school.  That  the  means 
of  reading,  writing  and  the  elements  of  Latin  were  far 
more  widely  diffused  than  has  sometimes  been  sup- 
posed, is  coming  to  be  generally  recognized  by  students 
of  medieval  life. ' '  2 

It  is  now  not  only  acknowledged  that  much  was 
done  for  the  education  of  the  people,  but  also  that  all 
education  during  the  Middle  Ages  proceeded  from  the 
Church.3  Nothing  but  prejudice  or  ignorance  of  the 

1  Rashdall,  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
vol.  I ,  p.  27. 

2  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  II , 
p.  602. 

3  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  p.  11. — 
Professor  Harnack  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  speaking  of 
the  achievements  of  the  Roman  Church,  says:  "In  the  first 
place  it  educated  the  Romano-Germanic  nations,  and  edu- 
cated them  in  a  sense  other  than  that  in  which  the  Eastern 

Church  educated  the  Greeks,  Slavs,  and  Orientals It 

brought  Christian  civilization  to  young  nations,  and  brought 
it,  not  once  only,  so  as  to  keep  them  at  its  first  stage —  no !  it 
gave   them   something  which   was   capable  of  exercising  a 
progressive  educational  influence,  and  for  a  period  of  almost 
a  thousand  years  it  itself  led  the  advance.     Up  to  the  four- 
teenth century  it  was  a  leader  and  a  mother ;  it  supplied  the 
ideas,  set  the  aims,  and  disengaged  the  forces."    The  same 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  TH£  SOCIETY.    23 

past  can  raise  any  doubts  about  the  merits  of  the 
Church  in  the  field  of  education.  We  cannot  narrate 
what  the  Church  has  done  to  advance  popular  educa- 
tion in  the  earlier  Middle  Ages.  Numerous  councils, 
—  for  instance,  those  of  Orange  in  France  (529), 
Constantinople  (680),  Aix-la-Chapelle  (802), l  Mentz 
(813),  Rome  (826  and  1179), — exhorted  the  clergy 
to  instruct  the  children,  "without  accepting  anything 
beyond  a  compensation  the  parents  should  offer 
freely,"  as  Bishop  Arbyton  of  Basle  (died  in  821) 
writes.  From  the  twelfth  century  on  the  number  of 
schools  increased  considerably.2 

Much  more  evidence  is  available  about  the  schools 
of  the  closing  Middle  Ages.  A  great  deal  of  it  is 
published  in  the  well-known  History  of  the  German 
People  by  Janssen.3  Although  compulsory  education 
was  unknown,  we  learn  from  many  records,  preserved 
in  towns  and  villages,  that  the  schools  were  well 
attended.  In  the  little  town  of  Wesel  there  were,  in 
1444,  five  teachers  employed  to  instruct  the  children 
in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  choir-singing.  In 
the  district  of  the  Middle  Rhine,  in  the  year  1500, 

author  admits  that  even  at  present  the  Catholic  Church  has 
an  important  share  in  the  movement  of  thought.  What  is 
Christianity?  (Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1901.)  Lecture 
XIV,  p.  247.  —  Well  has  Cardinal  Newman  said:  "Not  a  man 
in  Europe  now,  who  talks  bravely  against  the  Church,  but 
owes  it  to  the  Church,  that  he  can  talk  at  all.'*  Historical 
Sketches,  vol.  Ill ,  p.  109. 

1  On  the  schools  of  Charles  the  Great  and  of  the  cen- 
turies following  see  Specht,  Geschichte  des  Unterrichtswesens. 

—  West,  Alcuin  and  the  Rise  of  Christian  Schools. 

2  See    Specht,     op.     cit.  —  Russell,     German    Higher 
Schools. 

3  Vol.  I.  (English  translation),  pp.  25—60. 


24  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

there  were  whole  stretches  of  country  where  a 
"people's  school"  was  to  be  found  within  a  circuit  of 
every  six  miles.  Small  parishes  even  of  five  or  six 
hundred  souls  were  not  without  their  village  schools.1 
The  Protestant  historian  Palacky  stated  that,  while 
examining  documents  in  the  archives  of  Bohemia,  he 
took  note  of  all  the  teachers  whose  names  he  happened 
to  come  across,  and  found  that  about  the  year  1400 
the  diocese  of  Prague  must  have  had  at  least  640 
schools.  Taking  this  for  the  average,  the  63  dioceses 
then  existing  in  Germany  would  have  possessed  the 
respectable  number  of  over  40,000  elementary  or 
primary  schools.2 

This  conjecture  may  not  be  very  accurate,  but  the 
evidence  furnished  by  contemporary  documents  at 
least  goes  a  great  way  to  show  that  the  number  of 
schools  was  very  large.  The  latter  part  of  the  Middle 
Ages  was  the  time  in  which  the  burning  zeal  for 
learning  led  to  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing, 
and  this  art  in  turn  still  further  increased  the  desire  to 
learn  and  facilitated  the  work  of  education.  In  a 
pamphlet  printed  .in  Mentz,  in  1498,  it  was  said: 
"Everybody  now  wants  to  read  and  to  write. "  In  the 
light  of  such  facts,  who  does  not  see  the  absurdity  of 
the  assertion  of  Compayre  and  other  writers  that  the 
primary  school,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  is  the 
child  of  the  Reformation  ? 3  Towards  the  end  of  the 

1  Ib.,  pp.  26—27. 

2  At  present  the  number  of  elementary  schools  in  Ger- 
many is  less  than  60,000;' there  were  56,563  in  1892. 

3  "In   its   origin,   the   primary  school   is  the  child   of 
Protestantism,  and  its  cradle  was  the  Reformation."     Com- 
payre*, History  of  Pedagogy,   p.   112.  —  Similarly   Professor 
Beyschlag  of  Halle. 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THK  SOCIKTY.    25 

fifteenth  century  good  and  respectable  parents,  at  least 
in  Germany,  began  to  consider  it  their  duty  to  let  their 
children  acquire  an  education.  This  interest  in  edu- 
cation naturally  led  to  the  establishment  of  many  new 
schools.  Complaints  are  even  made  in  some  cities 
that  too  many  schools  are  opened.  The  facts  given  so 
far  prove  also  that  it  is  not  correct  to  say  that  the 
German  ( 'people's  school"  did  not  assume  the  shape 
of  a  school  for  the  masses  until  the  Reformation,1  or 
that  medieval  culture  was  but  for  the  few,  and  that  it 
was  Luther  who  brought  the  schoolmaster  into  the 
cottage.2  Otherwise  who  frequented  the  numerous 
schools  in  towns  and  villages,  where  "everybody 
wanted  to  read  and  to  write"  ? 

What  is  now  called  "secondary  education"  was 
not  as  strictly  distinguished  from  elementary  and 
university  training  as  it  is  now-a-days.  From  very 
early  times  higher  education  was  cared  for  in  num- 
erous schools  connected  with  monasteries  and  cathe- 
drals. The  merits  of  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  in 
preserving  the  treasures  of  classical  literature  are  uni- 
versally acknowledged.  Its  monks  were  not  only  the 
great  clearers  of  land  in  Europe,  at  once  missionaries 
and  laborers,  but  also  the  teachers  of  the  nations 
rising  from  barbarism  to  civilization. 

Benedictine  monasticism  gave  the  world  almost  its 
only  houses  of  learning  and  education,  and  constituted 
by  far  the  most  powerful  civilizing  agency  in  Europe, 
until  it  was  superseded  as  an  educational  instrument 
by  the  growth  of  the  universities.  The  period  that 

Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1888—89, 
vol.  I,  p.  32. 

1    Encyclopedia  Britannica,  article :  ' 'Education." 


26  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

intervenes  between  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and  the 
eleventh  century  has  been  well  styled  the  Benedictine 
age.  And  before  that  period  the  numerous  monastic 
schools  of  Ireland  had  been  frequented  by  so  many 
holy  and  learned  men  as  justly  to  win  for  that  country 
the  title  of  Insula  Sanctorum  et  Doctorum,  the  Island 
of  Saints  and  Scholars.1  In  general,  careful  historical 
research  by  modern  scholars  presents  a  picture  of  the 
medieval  monks  quite  different  from  that  given  by 
the  author  of  Ivanhoe  and  by  other  imaginative  "mis- 
describers' ' ,  according  to  whom  the  monk  was,  if  not 
a  hypocritical  debauchee,  at  the  least  a  very  ignorant 
and  very  indolent  person. 

We  have  to  sketch  chiefly  the  condition  of  educa- 
tion at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  speak  of  Italy  which,  in  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries,  was  the  intellectual  centre  of 
Europe  and  at  that  time  exhibited  a  literary  activity 
such  as  no  other  period  of  history  has  ever  witnessed. 
For  it  was  in  Italy  that  the  renaissance  began.  This 
mighty  movement,  which  marks  the  transition  of  the 
Middle  Ages  to  modern  times,  effected  a  revolution  in 
literature,  science,  art,  life  and  education.  From  Italy 
it  swept  on  over  Europe  and  caused  similar  changes 
everywhere.  What  is  called  the  classical  education  is 
the  immediate  outcome  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 
During  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  lived 
in  Northern  Italy  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  amiable 
educators  in  the  history  of  all  ages :  Vittorino  da 

1  See  Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars,  by  the 
Most  Rev.  John  Healy,  D.  D.  — Newman,  Historical  Sketches, 
vol.  Ill,  pp.  116—129. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    27 

Feltre. l  He  modified  considerably  the  medieval 
school  system  of  the  Trivium  and  Quadrivium.  Al- 
though the  classics,  carefully  selected,  formed  the 
groundwork  of  his  course,  other  branches,  as  mathe- 
matics and  philosophy,  were  not  neglected.  Due  at- 
tention was  devoted  to  the  physical  development  of 
the  pupils,  and  riding,  fencing,  and  other  gymnastic 
exercises  were  greatly  encouraged.  Vittorino  lived 
among  his  pupils  like  a  father  in  his  family,  revered 
and  beloved.  Poor  scholars  were  not  only  instructed, 
but  also  fed,  lodged,  and  clothed  gratuitously.  The 
secret  of  his  wonderful  influence  lay  in  his  lofty  moral 
principles  and  his  deeply  religious  spirit.  In  his 
calling  he  recognized  a  noble  mission  to  which  he 
devoted  himself  zealously  and  exclusively,  without 
seeking  anything  for  himself.  His  contemporaries 
called  him  the  " Saintly  Master".  His  virginal  purity 
charmed  all  who  came  into  contact  with  him.  Although 
not  a  priest,  he  daily  recited  the  Divine  office,  fre- 
quently approached  the  sacraments  and  accustomed 
his  pupils  to  receive  holy  communion  monthly  and  to 
hear  mass  daily.  This  great  educator's  fame  spread 
far  and  wide,  and  eager  youths  flocked  to  him  even 
from  France,  Germany  and  other  countries.  Many 
customs  and  practices  found  in  humanistic  schools 
north  of  the  Alps  may  have  been  copied  from  Vittori- 
no Js  famous  school.  It  is  certain  that  his  influence 
was  felt  in  England,  for  one  of  his  pupils,  Antonio 
Beccaria,  was  secretary  and  "translator"  of  Duke 
Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  the  first  patron  of  the  new 

1  Pastor,  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  I,  pp.  44-46.  —  Wood- 
ward, Vittorino  da  Feltre  and  other  Humanist  Educators, 
N.  Y.,  Macmillan. 


28  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

learning  in  England, l  and  the  celebrated  school  of 
Winchester,  founded  by  Bishop  Langdon,  was,  in  all 
probability,  modeled  after  that  of  Vittorino.2 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  mention  the  keen  in- 
terest in  learning  manifested  by  the  Italian  ecclesiastics 
of  this  period.  They  raised  to  the  papacy  the  book- 
lover  and  enthusiastic  student,  Parentucelli ;  and  he, 
as  Nicholas  V.  (1447-1455),  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  great  movement  of  the  renaissance,  and  won 
immortal  renown  by  founding  the  Vatican  Library, 
where  the  glorious  monuments  of  Greek  and  Roman 
intellect  were  collected  under  the  protection  of  the 
Holy  See.  The  second  successor  of  Nicholas  V.  was 
Aeneas  Sylvius  (Pius  II.),  famous  as  a  humanist 
scholar  and  author.  But  it  is  impossible  here  to  enu- 
merate all  the  ardent  promoters  of  learning  among  the 
popes,  cardinals  and  other  church  dignitaries  of  this 
time.  So  large  a  part  of  a  churchman's  life  did  learn- 
ing occupy  in  Italy,  that  no  prelate  considered  his 
household  complete  without  a  retinue  of  scholars. 3  — 
We  cannot  here  trace  the  gradual  spread  of  this  mighty 
movement  into  other  countries,  but  must  confine  our- 
selves to  the  bare  mention  of  a  few  facts  regarding  the 
educational  conditions. 

What  has  often  been  said  respecting  the  ignorance 
prevailing  in  Scotland  before  the  Reformation,  has 
been  repudiated  by  the  researches  of  Protestant  his- 
torians, such  as  Burton,  L,awson,  Edgar,  and  others. 
It  has  been  proved  that  this  country,  throughout  the 

1  Einstein,   The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England  (New 
York,  the  Columbia  University  Press,  1902),  p.  4. 

2  /£.,  p.  53. 

3  /£.,  p.  20. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    29 

latter  part  of  the  Middle  Ages,  possessed  an  abundance 
of  educational  facilities.  We  find  here  even  an  in- 
teresting example  of  compulsory  higher  education.  At 
the  instance  of  the  clergy,  in  1470,  an  act  of  parliament 
was  passed  providing  that  all  barons  and  freeholders 
should,  under  penalty  of  twenty  pounds,  send  their 
sons  at  the  age  of  nine  or  ten  years  to  the  schools,  to 
remain  there  until  they  had  acquired  a  competent 
knowledge  of  L,atin.  They  were  then  to  attend  the 
schools  of  art  and  law.1 

As  regards  secondary  schools  in  England,  it  used 
to  be  commonly  asserted  that  Edward  VI. ,  the  first 
monarch  of  the  Reformed  Faith,  was  the  great  founder 
and  reformer.2  Upwards  of  thirty  free  grammar 
schools  founded  at  this  time  have  permanently  asso- 
ciated the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  with  popular  education. 
The  Schools  Inquiring  Commission  in  1886  went 
further,  and  set  down  fifty-one  schools  to  the  credit  of 
Edward.  Modern  historical  research  has  broken, 
stick  by  stick,  the  whole  bundle  of  old  misrepresenta- 
tions. "The  fact  is  that  the  whole  theory  about  the 
dearth  of  grammar  schools  and  other  schools  still  more 
elementary  is  a  mere  delusion.  The  immense  prestige 
that  Edward  VI.  has  acquired  as  a  patron  of  education 
is  simply  due  to  the  fact  that  he  refounded  out  of  con- 
fiscated Church  property  some  small  percentage  of 
schools  which  he  and  his  rapacious  father  had  de- 
stroyed. The  probability  is  that  England  was  far 

1  Bellesheim,  History  of  the  Catholic   Church  of  Scot- 
land, vol.  II,  pp.  326,  346. 

2  See  the  article :    Medieval  Grammar  Schools,   in  the 
Dublin  Review,  1899,  vol.  CXXV,  pp.  153-178. 


30  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

better  provided  with  grammar  schools  before  the  Re- 
formation than  it  has  ever  been  since. ' ' l 

This  startling  statement  has  been  confirmed  by  a 
careful  study  of  the  records  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
and  Edward  VI. ,  from  which  it  is  clear  that  at  least 
two  hundred  grammar  schools  must  have  been  in 
existence  before  Edward  came  to  the  throne.  Mr. 
lyeach  raises  the  number  by  the  addition  of  another 
hundred,  and  says  that  three  hundred  is  a  moderate 
estimate  for  the  year  I535;2  and  this  number  is  ex- 
clusive of  elementary  schools  and  universities.  It  will 
suffice  to  mention  a  few  names  of  famous  schools : 
Canterbury,  Lincoln,  Wells,  York,  Beverly,  Chester, 
Southwell,  Winchester,  Eton,  the  school  of  Dean 
Colet  in  London,  and  the  numerous  schools  attached 
to  the  monasteries.  In  regard  to  the  great  number 
of  foundation  schools  established  just  after  the  Refor- 
mation, Professor  Thorold  Rogers  maintains  that  it 
was  not  a  new  zeal  for  learning,  but  a  very  inadequate 
supply  of  that  which  had  been  so  suddenly  and  dis- 
astrously destroyed. 8 

During  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  Re- 
formation, England  possessed  a  great  number  of  dis- 
tinguished scholars,  most  of  whom  were  ecclesiastics. 
The  revival  of  letters  was  heartily  welcomed  by  the 
clergy.  The  chief  ecclesiastics  of  the  day,  as  Wolsey, 
Warham,  Fisher,  Tunstall,  L,angton,  Stokesley,  Fox, 

1  The  Rev.  Hastings  Rashdall,  Harrow  School,  chap.  II, 
p.  12.     {Dublin  Review,  L  c.,  p.  156.) 

2  English  Schools   at  the    Reformation,   p.   6 ;     ( /.  c , 
p.  157J. 

*  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  vol.  I,  p.  165. 
{Dublin  Review,  1.  c.,  p.  162.) 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    31 

Selling,  Grocyn,  Whitford,  lyinacre,  Colet,  Pace, 
William  L,atimer,  and  numerous  others,  were  not  only 
ardent  humanists,  but  thorough  and  practical  church- 
men. l 

Similar  conditions  existed  on  the  European"  con- 
tinent. The  L,atin  City  Schools  towards  the*  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages  were  numerous  throughout  Germany.2 
About  this  time,  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  people 
in  Germany,  the  Netherlands  and  France  was  most 
beneficially  influenced  by  the  "  Brethren  of  the  Com- 
mon lyife".  Founded  by  Gerard  Groot  of  De venter, 
this  fraternity  at  first  was  employed  in  the  transcrip- 
tion of  books,  all,  profane  studies  being  prohibited. 
They  were  supposed  to  restrict  themselves  exclusively 
to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers,  not 
wasting  their  time  over  "such  vanities  as  geometry, 
arithmetic,  rhetoric,  logic,  grammar,  lyric  poetry,  and 
judicial  astrology. "  3  These  principles  were  extreme, 
and  it  is  some  consolation  to  find  that  the  founder 
admitted  the  "wiser  of  the  Gentile  philosophers,"  such 
as  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Seneca.  In  1393,  a  little 
scholar,  Thomas  Hammerken  of  Kempen,  Rhineland, 
entered  the  school  of  Deventer;  he  was  no  other  than 
the  famous  Thomas  a  Kempis,  most  probably  the 
author  of  the  Following  of  Christ. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  Gerard  Groot  (1384),  the 
labors  of  the  Brethren  were  made  to  embrace  a  wider 
sphere,  and  especially  to  include  the  education  of 

1  Einstein,    The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England,  pp. 
18-57.  —  Gasquet,   The  Eve  of  the  Reformation,   pp.  36-50. 

2  On  their  character  see  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education,  1897-98,  vol.  I,  pp.  20-23. 

3  A.  T.  Drane,  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars,  vol.  II, 
p.  335. 


32  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

youth.  The  prohibition  against  profane  learning  dis- 
appeared, Deventer  became  a  most  celebrated  institu- 
tion, and  numerous  .schools  were  founded  all  over 
Flanders,  France  and  Northern  Germany.  The  settle- 
ments of  the  Brethren  spread  gradually  along  the 
Rhine  as  far  as  Suabia,  and  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  they  reached  from  the  Scheldt  to  the  Vistula, 
from  Cambrai,  through  the  whole  of  Northern  Ger- 
many, to  Culm  in  Prussia.  In  these  schools,  Chris- 
tian education  was  placed  high  above  mere  learning, 
and  the  training  of  the  young  in  practical  religion  and 
active  piety  was  considered  the  most  important  duty. 
The  whole  system  of  instruction  was  permeated  by  a 
Christian  spirit ;  the  pupils  learned  to  look  upon 
religion  as  the  basis  of  all  human  existence  and  cul- 
ture, while  at  the  same  time  they  had  a  good  supply 
of  secular  knowledge  imparted  to  them,  and  they 
gained  a  genuine  love  for  learning  and  study.1  The 
Brethren  had  been  established  by  John  Standonch, 
doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  in  the  College  de  Montaigne 
in  the  University  of  Paris. 2  The  founder  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  studied  in  this  college,  and  some 
suppose  that  the  rules  of  the  Poor  Clerks,  as  they  were 
often  called,  furnished  Ignatius  some  ideas  for  his 
rules.3  This  much  is  certain,  that  Ignatius  had  im- 
bibed the  spirit  of  those  Brethren  from  the  study  of  the 
works  of  Thomas  a  Kempis.  It  is  related  that  at  the 
time  when  he  wrote  the  Constitutions  of  his  Order,  he 
had  no  other  books  in  his  room  except  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Following  of  Christ. 

1  Janssen,  Hist,  of  the  German  People -,  vol.  I,  ch.  3. 

2  Drane,  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars,  vol.  II,  p.  339. 

3  This  is  for  instance  the  opinion  of  Boulay,  the  historian 
of  the  University  of  Paris. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.  33 

Youths  eager  for  knowledge  flocked  from  all  parts 
to  the  schools  of  the  Brethren.  The  number  of  schol- 
ars at  Zwolle  often  rose  to  eight  hundred  or  ten 
hundred  ;  at  Alkmaar  to  nine  hundred  ;  at  Herzogen- 
busch  to  twelve  hundred ;  and  at  Deventer,  in  the 
year  1500,  actually  to  twenty-two  hundred.  Other 
celebrated  schools  were  at  Liege  and  Louvain.  The 
instruction  being  free  in  all  these  schools,  they  were 
open  to  students  of  the  smallest  means.  In  many  of 
the  towns  also,  where  they  had  not  started  actual 
schools,  the  Brethren  supplied  teachers  for  the  town 
schools,  not  unfrequently  paid  the  expenses  of  the 
poorer  scholars  and  supplied  them  with  books,  station- 
ery and  other  school  materials.  In  1431  Pope  Eugene 
sent  orders  to  the  bishops  that  they  should  prevent 
any  interference  with  the  beneficial  work  of  these 
zealous  educators.  Pius  II.  and  Sixtus  IV.  went  even 
further  in  their  support  and  encouragement.  One  of 
their  most  active  patrons  was  Cardinal  Nicholas  of 
Cusa,  renowned  as  a  mathematician  and  the  precursor 
of  Copernicus.  Nicholas  himself  had  been  educated 
at  Deventer,  and  had  given  this  school  material  sup- 
port by  a  liberal  endowment  for  the  maintenance  of 
twenty  poor  students. l 

The  schools  of  the  Brethren  had  been  among  the 
first  of  those  north  of  the  Alps  which  introduced  the 
revived  study  of  classical  literature.  It  was  in  these 
schools  that  Rudolphus  Agricola,  Alexander  Hegius, 
Rudolph  von  L,angen  and  L,udwig  Dringenberg 
studied.  All  were  equally  distinguished  for  learning, 
piety,  and  purity  of  morals,  and  became  the  most  en- 
thusiastic revivers  of  the  classical  studies  on  German 

1     Janssen,  /.  c.,  pp.  61-62. 
3 


34  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

soil,  —  the  fathers  of  the  older  German  humanism. 1 
Hegius,  one  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  the  century,  was 
rector  of  the  schools  at  Wesel,  Emmerich  and  De- 
venter.  Erasmus,  a  pupil  of  Deventer,  ranks  him 
among  the  restorers  of  pure  Latin  scholarship.  Hegius 
enjoys  the  undisputed  credit  of  having  purged  and 
simplified  the  school  curriculum,  improved  the  method 
of  teaching,  corrected  the  old  text-books  or  replaced 
them  by  better  ones.  He  also  made  the  classics  the 
staple  of  instruction  of  youth. 2  Together  with  Agri- 
cola,  Erasmus  and  Reuchlin,  he  was  foremost  in  pro- 
pagating enthusiasm  for  Greek  in  Germany.  Hegius 
emphasized  the  necessity  of  a  knowledge  of  Greek  for 
all  sciences  : 

Qui  Graece  nescit,  nescit  quoque  doctus  haberi. 

In  summa:  Grajis  debentur  singula  doctis. 3 
In  Alsace  flourished  the  school  of  Schlettstadt, 
more  important  even  than  those  on  the  Lower  Rhine. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  German  schools  in  which 
the  history  of  the  Fatherland  was  zealously  studied 
side  by  side  with  the  classics.  Among  its  most  dis- 
tinguished pupils  were  Johannes  von  Dalberg,  Geiler 
von  Kaisersberg  and  Wirnpheling.  Dalberg  was  bishop 
of  Worms  and  curator  of  the  Heidelberg  University,  a 
liberal  patron  of  all  learned  men,  especially  of  Reuch- 
lin, the  great  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar.  This  noble 
bishop  was  also  the  leader  and  director  of  the  '  *  Rhe- 

1  See  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  V,  chapter 
I:  "Humanism  in  Germany. " 

2  Janssen,  /.  ^.,  p.  68. 

3  Paulsen,   Geschiclite  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  p.  42, 
(vol.  I,  p.  67).    Further  details  are  given  by  Janssen,  History 
of  the  German  People;  "The  Higher  Schools  and  the  Older 
Humanists."     (English  translation,  vol.  I,  pp.  61 — 85.) 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIKTY.  35 

nish  Literary  Society,"  founded  in  1491,  to  which  be- 
longed a  host  of  learned  men, — theologians,  lawyers, 
doctors,  philosophers,  mathematicians,  linguists,  his- 
torians and  poets,  from  the  Rhinelands  and  the  Middle 
and  Southwest  of  Germany.  The  object  of  this  society, 
as  of  many  similar  ones  existing  at  that  time  in  Ger- 
many, was  the  encouragement  and  spread  of  science 
and  the  fine  arts  generally,  and  of  classical  learning  in 
particular,  as  also  the  furthering  of  national  historical 
research. l 

Another  great  pupil  of  Schlettstadt  was  Geiler  von 
Kaisersberg  (died  1510),  the  Cathedral  preacher  of 
Strasburg,  great  not  only  as  theologian  and  pulpit 
orator,  but  also  as  an  ardent  promoter  of  humanistic 
studies,  a  friend  of  the  learned  Benedictine  Johannes 
Trithemius  and  of  Gabriel  Biel  of  Tiibingen,  and  the 
leading  spirit  of  a  circle  of  highly  gifted  men  on  the 
Upper  Rhine.  The  third  great  scholar  of  Schlettstadt 
was  Wimpheling,  called  the  "Teacher  of  Germany." 
As  Hegius  was  the  greatest  German  schoolmaster  of 
his  century,  so  Wimpheling  was  the  most  distinguished 
writer  on  matters  educational,  one  of  the  most  famous 
restorers  of  an  enlightened  system  of  education  from  a 
Christian  point  of  view.  In  one  of  his  writings, 
the  Guide  for  German  Youth,  (1497),  he  forcefully 
points  out  the  defects  of  the  earlier  system  of  educa- 
tion and  lays  down  some  golden  rules  for  improve- 
ments, especially  for  mastering  the  ancient  languages. 
It  is  the  first  work  published  on  rational  pedagogy 
and  methodics  in  Germany,  a  truly  national  work. 
According  to  Wimpheling  and  other  schoolmen  of  this 
time,  the  study  of  L,atin  and  Greek  should  not  be-con- 
1  Jaussen,  /.  c.,  p.  107. 


36  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

fined  to  the  learning  of  the  languages,  but  should  be 
the  means  of  strengthening  and  disciplining  thought, 
true  gymnastics  of  independent  judgment.1 

There  are  many  names  of  great  educators  and 
scholars  of  this  time  which  deserve  at  least  to  be  men- 
tioned: Pirkheimer  in  Nuremberg, Cochlaeus,  professor 
of  classics  and  director  of  the  school  of  poetry  in  the 
same  city,  Murmellius,  co-rector  of  the  Cathedral 
school  in  Minister,  Count  Moritz  von  Spiegelberg, 
provOvSt  at  Emmerich. 

But  we  must  leave  this  interesting  subject,  how- 
ever reluctantly,  and  refer  the  reader  to  Janssen's  first 
volume.  Prom  contemporary  sources  this  author  has 
drawn  the  following  conclusions:  "Outside  the  Mark 
of  Brandenburg,  there  was  scarcely  a  single  large  town 
in  Germany  in  which,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, in  addition  to  the  already  existing  elementary 
national  schools,  new  schools  of  higher  grade  were  not 
built  or  old  ones  improved. ' '  2  The  control  of  these 
schools  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Church,  and  most  of 
the  masters  were  clerics.  School  rates  were  unknown. 
The  schools  were  kept  up  by  frequent  legacies;  for  the 
education  of  the  young  was  counted  among  the  works 
of  mercy,  to  which  money  was  liberally  given  in 
loyal  obedience  to  the  Church's  doctrine  of  good 
works.  Libraries  were  also  founded  in  the  same 
spirit.3 

All  over  Europe  we  find,  therefore,  a  great,  yea 

1  /£.,  p.  80. 

2  L.  c.y  pp.  80 — 81.     Erasmus  wrote  to  I^uiz  Vives :  "In 
Germania  tot  fere  sunt  academiae  quot  oppida.   Harum  nulla 
paene  est,  quae  non  magnis  salariis  accersat  linguarum  profes- 
sores."     Opera,  III,  689. 

3  Janssen,  /.  c.,  p.  81. 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    37 

enthusiastic,  activity  in  the  field  of  learning  and  edu- 
cation. The  foremost  promoters  and  patrons  of  this 
intellectual  movement  are  everywhere  ecclesiastics. 
This  fact  is  so  patent  that  an  impartial  American 
scholar  wrote  quite  recently:  "The  patronage  of  learn- 
ing which  has  always  been  one  of  the  proudest  boasts 
of  the  Catholic  Church  existed  especially  in  the 
Renaissance,  when  a  genuine  love  for  it  on  the  part  of 
churchmen  atoned  for  many  other  shortcomings.  The 
higher  clergy,  moreover,  were  mostly  university  men 
whose  scholarly  interests  had  been  awakened  early  in 
life,  and  who  later  were  placed  in  a  position  to  show 
their  gratitude.  A  zeal  for  learning  and  the  patronage 
of  scholars  became  almost  an  affectation  on  the  part  of 
the  higher  clergy.  ...  In  all  ranks  of  the  Church  an 
interest  in  the  new  learning  was  shown ,  even  by  those 
who  were  to  leave  the  Roman  faith,  but  who  in  their 
zeal  for  letters  continued  former  traditions. ' '  l 

In  the  face  of  such  historical  evidence,  it  is  unintel- 
ligible how  certain  writers  can  describe  the  pre-Refor- 
mation  period  as  one  of  intellectual  stagnation  and 
degeneracy.  If  we  are  to  believe  Mr.  Painter,  shortly 
before  the  Reformation,  learning  had  died  out  among 
the  clergy,  the  schools  were  neglected,  superstition 
and  ignorance  characterized  the  masses.2  Mr.  Seeley's 
estimate  of  the  period  is  not  less  unfavorable:  "The 
Church  which  had  been  the  Mother  of  schools  had 
become  corrupt  and  degenerate;  priests  were  ignorant 
and  immoral,  and  good  teachers  were  no  longer  to  be 
found.  Education  was  at  such  low  ebb,  and  the 
advantages  offered  were  so  poor,  and  of  such  doubtful 

1  Einstein,    The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England,   pp. 
51—54.  —  See  also  Paulsen,  /.  <;.,  vol.  I,  pp.  27—29. 

2  A  History  of  Education,  p.  136, 


38  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

character,  that  but  few  persons  cared  to  avail  them- 
selves of  their  privileges."1  Prejudice  or  ignorance 
characterize  these  sweeping  indictments,  and  any 
further  comment  on  them  is  unnecessary. 

The  greatest  and  most  glorious  achievement  of  the 
medieval  Church  in  the  intellectual  sphere  are  the 
universities.  These  institutions  have  been  bequeathed 
to  us  by  the  Middle  Ages,  and  they  are  of  greater  and 
more  imperishable  value  even  than  its  cathedrals.2 
The  universities  were,  to  a  great  extent,  ecclesiastical 
institutions,3  they  were,  at  least,  endowed  with 
privileges  from  the  Holy  See.  They  were  meant  to 
be  the  highest  schools  not  only  of  secular,  but  also  of 
religious  learning,  and  stood  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Church,  as  well  as  under  her  special  protection.4 
It  was  through  the  privileges  of  the  Church  that  the 
universities  were  raised  from  merely  local  into  ecu- 
menical organizations.  The  doctorate  became  an 
order  of  intellectual  nobility,  with  as  distinct  and 
definite  a  place  in  the  hierarchical  system  of  medieval 
Christendom,  as  the  priesthood  and  the  knighthood. 
In  fact  the  Sacerdotium,  Imperium,  and  Studium  are 

1  History  of  Education,  p.  166. 

2  Rashdall,  Universities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  I,  p.  5. 

3  Of    the    forty-four    universities  founded    by  charters 
before  1400,  there  are  thirty-one  which  possess  papal  charters. 
Deuifle,  O.  P.,  Die  Entstehung  der  Universitdten  des  Mittel- 
alters  bis  1400,  p.  780. 

4  On  this  subject  see:  Denifle,  /.  c.;  Rashdall,  The  Uni- 
versities of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages,  2  vols.  —  Dublin 
Review,  July  1898:   The  Church  and  the  Universities,  byj.  B. 
Milburn.  —  Newman,  Rise  and  Progress  of  Universities,  in 
Historical  Sketches,   vol.    III.  —  For    further   literature   see 
Guggenberger,  S.  J.,  A  General  History  of  the  Christian  Era, 
vol.  II,  pp.  126—129. 


EDUCATION  BEFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    39 

the  three  great  forces  which  energized  those  times  and 
built  up  and  maintained  the  mighty  fabric  of  medieval 
Christendom.  The  University  of  Paris,  the  first  school 
of  the  Church,  with  its  four  Nations,  possessed  some- 
thing of  the  international  character  of  the  Church.1 
4 'It  may  with  truth  be  said  that  in  the  history  of 
human  things  there  is  to  be  found  no  grander  concep- 
tion than  that  of  the  Church  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
when  it  resolved,  in  the  shape  of  the  universities,  to 
cast  the  light  of  knowledge  abroad  over  the  Christian 
world."2  These  are  the  testimonies  of  Protestant 
historians. 

As  the  Benedictines  in  the  earlier  ages  had  been 
the  most  zealous  educators,  so,  from  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury on,  the  friars  or  mendicants  took  the  most  prom- 
inent part  in  university  education.  The  greatest 
professors  in  philosophy  and  theology  were  friars  ; 
to  the  order  of  St.  Francis  belonged  Alexander  of 
Hales,  St.  Bonaventure,  Roger  Bacon,  and  Duns 
Scotus.  The  last  mentioned  was  one  of  the  profoun- 
dest  and  most  original  thinkers  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  and  deservedly  was  styled  the  Doctor  subtilis. 
Blessed  Albertus  Magnus,  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  "the 
Angelic  Doctor  and  Prince  of  the  Schools,"  were 
Dominicans.  Albertus  Magnus  and  Roger  Bacon 
were  far  in  advance  of  their  time  in  the  knowledge  of 
mathematics  and  natural  sciences.  Mr.  Rashdall  com- 
pares Roger  Bacon  with  his  great  namesake,  Francis 

1  Rashdall,  /.  c.,  vol.  I,  p.  546. 

2  Burton,  History  of  Scotland,  vol.  IV,  p.  109.     (Belles- 
heim,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Scotland ',  vol.  II, 
p.  346.) 


40  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Bacon,  and  the  comparison  is  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  monk. l 

There  existed  a  considerable  number  of  universities 
before  the  year  1400,  chief  among  them  were  those  of 
Paris,  Bologna,  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  Salamanca, 
Prague,  Vienna,  Heidelberg,  etc.  From  1400  to  the 
Reformation  many  new  universities  were  founded  in 
Western  Christendom.  '2  Twenty-six  of  those  founded 
between  1400  and  1500  are  still  existing,3  among  them 
Wiirzburg,  L,eipsic,  Munich,  Ttibingen,  etc.,  in  Ger- 
many; St.  Andrew's,  Glasgow,  Aberdeen  in  Scotland; 
Upsala  in  Sweden ;  Copenhagen  in  Denmark,  etc. 
In  Germany  alone  nine  were  founded  between  1456 
and  I5o6.4  But  we  need  not  dwell  further  on  these  uni- 
versities, as  any  information  that  is  sought  can  be 
easily  gathered  from  the  many  books  that  are  available 
on  this  subject. 5 

The  intellectual  activity  of  the  universities  of  the 
Southern  European  countries  was  nowise  inferior  to 
that  of  Central  and  Northern  Europe.  In  Portugal 
there  was  the  University  of  Coimbra  ;  in  Spain,  there 
were  at  least  twelve  universities  before  i5oo,6  the 

1  L.  c.,  vol.  II,  pp.  523—524. 

2  Compayre  enumerates  75  universities  existing  in  1482, 
the  year  before  Luther's  birth.     "Who  could  deny,"  he  says, 
"after  merely  glancing  over  this  long  enumeration,  the  im- 
portance of  the  university  movement  in  the  last  three  cen- 
turies of  the  Middle  Ages?."     Abelard,  pp.  50—52. 

3  See  Report  of  Com.  of  Ed.,  1897-98,  vol.  II,  p.  1741. 

4  Jansseu,  /.  <:.,  vol.  I,  p.  86. 

5  Janssen,  vol.  I.  —  Compayr6,  Abelard  and  the  Origin 
and  Early  History  of  Universities    (Scribner's  Sons,  New 
York).  —  Rasbdall,  vol.  II,  pp.  211-280;  on  the  universities 
of  Poland,  Hungary,   Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Scotland,  pp. 
283—315. 

6  See  Rashdall,  vol.  II,  pp.  65—107. 


EDUCATION  BKFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    41 

chief  among  them  at  Salamanca.  Here  flourished, 
shortly  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Reformation,  the 
famous  classical  scholar,  Peter  Martyr,  Prior  of  the 
Church  of  Granada.  He  and  other  scholars  labored 
with  such  success  for  the  higher  education  of  the 
nobility,  that  no  Spaniard  was  considered  noble  who 
showed  any  indifference  to  learning.  Erasmus  also 
declares  that  "the  Spaniards  had  attained  such  emi- 
nence in  literature r  that  they  not  only  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  most  polished  nations  of  Europe,  but 
served  likewise  as  models  for  them. ' ' l  Many  belong- 
ing to  the  first  houses  of  the  nobility  —  once  so  high 
and  proud  —  now  made  110  hesitation  to  occupy  chairs 
in  the  universities.  Among  others  Don  Gutierre  de 
Toledo,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  and  cousin  of  the 
King,  lectured  at  Salamanca.  Noble  dames  likewise 
vied  with  illustrious  grandees  for  the  prize  of  literary 
pre-eminence ;  while  many  even  held  chairs  in  the 
universities,  and  gave  public  lectures  on  eloquence 
and  classical  learning.  Some  of  the  names  of  these 
literary  ladies  have  been  preserved :  the  Marchioness 
of  Monteagudo,  Dona  Maria  Pacheco,  and  Queen 
Isabella's  instructor  in  Latin,  Doiia  Beatriz  de  Galin- 
do,  and  others. 2  With  such  a  zeal  for  knowledge  the 

1  Epist.  977.     (Hefele,  Life  of  Ximenez,  p.  115.) 

2  Hefele,  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Ximenez,  translated  by 
the  Rev.  Canon  Dalton,  p.  115.  —  Rashdall  remarks  on  this 
fact:  "Salamanca  is  not  perhaps  ^precisely  the  place  where 
one  would  look  for  early  precedents  for  the  higher  education 
of  women.     Yet  it  was   from   vSalamanca  that  Isabella,  the 
Catholic,  is  said  to  have  summoned  Doiia  Beatriz  Galiudo  to 
teach  her  Latin  long  before  the  Protestant  Elizabeth  put  her- 
self to  school  under  Ascham."   Univ.  in  theM.  A.,  vol.  II,  p.  79. 
The  education  of  women  was  not  so  entirely  neglected  as  is 


42  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

old  schools  began  to  be  filled,  and  the  newly  endowed 
Salamanca  excelled  them  all.  It  was  called  the 
"Spanish  Athens",  and  was  said  at  one  time  to  have 
seven  thousand  students.  It  was  there  that  Peter 
Martyr  gave  lessons  on  Juvenal  (1488),  before  such  an 
immense  audience  that  the  entrance  to  the  hall  was 
completely  blocked  up  and  the  lecturer  had  to  be  car- 
ried in  on  the  shoulders  of  the  students. l  It  should 
be  mentioned  to  the  credit  of  Salamanca  that  her 
Doctors  encouraged  the  designs  of  Columbus,  and  that 
the  Copernican  system  found  early  acceptance  in  its 
lecture  rooms. 2 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  other 
schools  for  higher  education  were  established  at  Tole- 
do, Seville,  Granada,  Ognate,  Ossuna,  and  Valencia. 
But  all  these  schools  were  far  excelled  by  the  new 
university  of  Alcala,  founded  by  Ximenez  in  1500. 
It  was  so  magnificent  an  establishment  that  the  Span- 
iards called  it  the  *  'eighth  wonder  of  the  world. ' '  The 
college  of  San  Ildefonso  was  the  head  of  the  new 
university.  Moreover,  Ximenez  founded  several  other 
institutions,  adapted  to  all  kinds  of  wants.  Most  re- 
nowned was  the  *  'College  of  Three  Languages' '  for  the 
study  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew.  For  poor  young 
students  in  the  classics,  Ximenez  endowed  two  board- 
ing schools,  where  forty -two  scholars  were  supported 
three  years  free  of  expense.  The  students  attended 
the  lectures  given  by  the  six  professors  of  languages, 

commonly  believed.  See  Specht,  /.  c.,  ch.  XI,  "Education 
of  Women"  Further  Janssen's  History  of  the  German 
People,  vol.  I,  pp.  82—85. 

1  Prescott,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Part  I,  ch.  XIX.— 
Peter  Martyr's  Epist.,  57.  —  Hefele,  p.  116. 

2  Rashdall,  /.  r.,  vol.  II,  p.  77. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    43 

who  were  attached  to  the  university  ;  at  their  houses, 
however,  special  exercises  were  given  and  disputations 
held  for  fourteen  days.  Strict  examinations  were 
required  before  any  one  could  be  admitted  to  a  higher 
class,  or  to  a  particular  course  of  lectures  on  any 
science.  All  the  regulations  were  followed  by  such 
great  results  that,  according  to  Erasmus,  Alcala  was 
especially  distinguished  by  its  able  philologists. l  — 
The  most  splendid  production  of  the  philological  and 
biblical  activity  of  this  university  is  the  celebrated 
Complutensian  Polyglot  of  the  Bible.  In  1526  Igna- 
tius of  Loyola,  the  future  founder  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  attended  the  University  of  Alcala ;  in  1527  we 
find  him  in  Salamanca. 

In  connection  with  Alcala  we  must  mention  the 
greatest  school  of  the  Netherlands,  the  University  of 
Louvain.  Especially  distinguished  was  its  Collegium^' 
Trilingue,  founded  in  1516  by  Busleiden,  the  friend  of 
Erasmus  and  Thomas  More.  Busleiden  had  visited 
Alcala  and  wished  to  have  in  Lou  vain,  a  college  like 
that  of  the  "Three  Languages"  at  Alcala  for  the  study 
of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew.  The  famous  universities 
of  Alcala,  Salamanca,  Paris,  and  Louvain  furnish  the 
connecting  link  between  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits  and  that  previous  to  the  foundation  of  the  So- 
ciety. But  the  great  University  of  Paris  was  really  the 
.  Alma  Mater  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  There  also  he 
won  his  first  companions,  chief  among  them  Peter 
Kaber,  and  St.  Francis  Xavier.  In  1529  and  1530 
Ignatius  visited  the  Netherlands.  During  its  infancy 
several  distinguished  members  of  the  Order  were 
scholars  from  that  country,  as  Peter  Canisius,  Francis 

1     Epist.  755.     (Hefele,  /.  c.,  p.  122.) 


44  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

Coster,  Peter  Busaeus,  John  Theodore  Macherentius, 
and  others.  The  traditions  of  the  University  of  Paris 
and  of  the  humanistic  schools  of  the  Netherlands  un- 
doubtedly exerted  a  considerable  influence  on  the 
Jesuit  system  of  education.  Before  narrating  the 
foundation  of  the  Society  and  the  development  of  its 
educational  system,  it  is  necessary  to  speak  of  two 
great  movements,  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation. 


§2.  Character  of  Medieval  Education.  The  Renaissance. 

Higher  education  in  the  Middle  Ages  followed  the 
course  known  as  the  study  of  the  "Seven  Liberal 
Arts,"  divided  into  the  Trivium:  Grammar,  Rhetoric, 
and  Logic  ;  and  the  Quadrivium:  Arithmetic,  Music, 
Geometry,  and  Astronomy.1  If  we  read  that  "gram- 
mar" was  studied  for  several  years  and  that  many 
confined  their  studies  to  this  part  of  the  course,  we 
ought  well  to  understand  the  meaning  of  this  term. 
By  grammar  was  not  meant,  as  now,  the  mere  study 
of  the  rules  of  a  language,  its  etymology  and  syntax, 
but  rather  a  scholarly  acquaintance  with  the  literature 
of  that  language,  together  with  the  power  of  writing 
and  speaking  it.2  Rabanus  Mattrus,  the  greatest  pupil 
of  Alcuin  and  later  on  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  defined 
grammar  as  "the  science  of  interpreting  poets  and 
historians,  as  well  as  the  science  of  the  rules  of  speak- 
ing and  writing."  Latin  was  the  principal  subject  of 
instruction,  the  favorite  authors  were  Virgil  and  Ovid. 
Hugo  of  Trimberg,  the  master  of  a  school  at  Bamberg, 

1  On  the  Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  see  West,  Alcuin 
and  the  Rise  of  the  Christian  Schools,  pp.  1 — 39. 

2  Newman,  Historical  Sketches^  vol.  II,  p.  460. 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THK  SOCIKTY.    45 

about  1250,  enumerates  the  following  authors  whom 
he  read  with  his  pupils:  Virgil,  Horace,  Ovid,  Juvenal, 
Persius,  Statius,  Homerus  lyatinus,  Boethius,  Clau- 
dian,  Sedulius,  Prudent  ins,  and  others. l  Of  prose 
authors  are  mentioned  :  Cicero,  Seneca,  Sallust,  and 
others.  The  study  of  Greek  is  met  with  only  very 
exceptionally  before  the  Renaissance.  Mathematics 
were  taught,  but  it  is  difficult  to  say  to  what  extent. 

In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  there  was  a 
revival  of  literary  studies,  which,  however,  was  soon 
replaced  by  another  movement,  scholasticism.  Through 
the  Arabs  and  the  Jews,  Western  Europe  became 
acquainted  with  the  entire  Logic  of  Aristotle  —  hitherto 
only  his  Organon  was  known,  and  that  in  the  L,atin 
translation  of  Boethius, — with  his  Dialectics,  Physics, 
Metaphysics,  and  Ethics.2  Scientific  inquiry  in  the 
universities  began  to  move  in  another  direction  than 
heretofore.  The  methods  of  Aristotle  were  introduced 
into  the  schools;  henceforth  there  was  a  more  rigorous 
form  of  reasoning,  a  dialectic  tendency,  and  a  closer 
adherence  to  the  syllogism ;  disputations  were  very 
common.  A  renewed  study  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  and  a  more  correct  understanding  of  Aristotle 
inaugurated  the  most  brilliant  period  of  scholasticism 
(1230—1330).  3 

1  On  the  authors  studied  or  known  during  the  Middle 
Ages  see  Coinparetti,    Virgil  in  the  Middle  Ages.  —  Boutaric^ 
Vincent  de  Beauvais  et  la  connaissance  de  Vantiquite  classique 
au  treizieme  siecle,  in  Revue  des  Questions  Historiques,  vol. 
XVII,  pp.  5 — 57.  —  An  adequate  history   of  the   use   of  the 
classics   during   this   period   does   not   exist.      A  pretty  full 
bibliography  of  monographs  is  given  by  Taylor,  The  Classical 
Heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  363—365. 

2  Windelbaud,  A  History  of  Philosophy,  p.  310. 

3  On    Scholasticism    see    also    Alzog,    History    of  the 
Church,  vol.  II,  pp.  728—784. 


46  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

It  cannot  and  need  not  be  denied  that  the  educa- 
tion imparted  by  the  medieval  scholastics  was  in  many 
regards  defective.  It  was  at  once  too  dogmatic  and 
disputatious. T  Literary  studies  were  comparatively 
neglected ;  frequently  too  much  importance  was  at- 
tached to  purely  dialectical  subtleties.  This  education 
was  one-sided,  and  a  few  great  men  of  the  age,  as 
Roger  Bacon,  the  great  medieval  scientist,  and  John 
of  Salisbury,  complained  that  scholasticism  was  too 
narrow. 2  The  defects  of  scholasticism  became  es- 
pecially manifest  in  the  course  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  when  much  time  and  energy  was 
wasted  in  discussing  useless  refinements  of  thought. 

Another  serious  defect  of  medieval  education  was 
the  lack  of  philological  and  historical  criticism.  This 
uncritical  spirit  has  been  well  pointed  out  in  the  Inter- 
national Catholic  Scientific  Congress  at  Munich,  1900, 
by  the  distinguished  Jesuit  historian,  Father  Grisar. 
Speaking  of  the  unwarranted  traditions  and  pious 
legends  that  grew  up  during  the  Middle  Ages,  he  says: 
"The  age  was  really  in  infancy,  so  far  as  regular  his- 
torical scientific  instinct  was  concerned.  As  in  other 
branches  of  knowledge,  people  lived  on  the  good  or 
bad  tradition  of  former  days,  just  as  they  had  received 
it.  ...  The  scientific  work  of  the  whole  epoch  was 
devoted  to  those  branches  of  knowledge  that  are  most 
sublime  in  their  matter  and  stand  in  closest  relation 
to  religion  and  Church.  The  age  produced  great  and 
exceedingly  acute  theologians,  philosophers  and  can- 
onists, but  in  these  very  men  the  general  absence  of 
the  historical  sense,  and  of  the  criticism  of  facts,  is 

1  See  Dublin  Review,  1899,  vol.  CXXIV,  p.  340. 

2  Alzog,  /.  c.,  vol.  II,  p.  783. 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  TUB  SOCIETY.    47 

remarkable.  It  never  occurs  to  them  to  question  the 
heritage  of  traditions  or  the  wonderful  narratives  that 
spring  up.  Rather  in  general  they  endeavor  to  find 
in  their  systems  a  place  for  the  most  incongruous 
statements  without  any  question  as  to  their  foundation 
in  fact. ' ' l  This  lack  of  criticism  explains  the  general 
acceptance  of  such  forgeries  as  the  ''Decretals  of 
Pseudo-Isidorus",  of  the  "Donation  of  Constantine", 
and  of  the  works  of  "Pseudo-Dionysius  Areopagita". 
The  knowledge  of  antiquity  was  exceedingly  vague 
and  defective.  Even  such  writers  as  Vincent  of 
Beauvais,  who  wrote  a  cyclopedia  of  all  branches  of 
learning  then  known  (the  Speculum  Majus),  makes 
the  most  curious  blunders.  Thus  Caesar's  Commen- 
taries he  ascribes  to  Julius  Celsus ;  Marcus  Tullius 
Cicero  he  confounds  with  his  brother  Quintus,  in  say- 
ing that  the  great  orator  was  a  lieutenant  of  Caesar. 
Spurious  works  abound  in  his  lists  of  ancient  authors, 
whilst  important  works,  as  Cicero's  Epistles,  De  Ora- 
tore,  Brutus,  etc. ,  were  unknown  to  him. 2 

Undoubtedly  a  reaction  was  inevitable  and,  at  the 
same  time,  needed.  It  came  in  the  Renaissance,  or  the 
Revival  of  Learning.  However,  this  movement  soon 
went  to  another  extreme,  to  an  enthusiasm  for  the 
ancient  authors  which  was  beyond  the  limits  of  reason. 
Thus  humanism  became  not  less  one-sided  than 
scholasticism  had  been.  We  shall  see  further  on  that 
the  educational  system  of  the  Society  is  a  combination 
of  humanism  and  scholasticism.  A  thorough  educa- 

1  Translation  from  The  Review,  St.  Louis,  May  23,  1901. 

2  See'Boutaric,    Vincent  de  Beauvais  et  la  connaissance 
de   V antiquitk  classique   au    treizieme    siecle.      {Revue   des 
Questions  Historiques,  vol.  XVII,  pp.  5—57.) 


48  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

tion  in  the  classics  is  followed  by  a  solid  course  of 
philosophy,  mathematics,  and  natural  sciences.  Thus 
the  shortcomings  of  both  systems  are  effectively 
obviated. 

Both  terms :  "renaissance"  and  "humanism",  are 
apt  to  be  misunderstood.  If  "humanism"  means  the 
true  perception  of  man's  nature  and  destiny,  or  truly 
humane  feelings  towards  fellow-man  and  active  hu- 
manitarian interest  in  his  welfare,  then  the  Middle 
Ages  knew  and  practised  humanism.  Thus  under- 
stood it  is  in  no  way  different  from  the  sublime  prin- 
ciples laid  down  by  the  most  humane  of  all  teachers, 
the  God-man  Jesus  Christ.  If,  however,  it  signifies 
a  view  of  life  and  mankind  which  recognizes  nothing 
but  the  purely  natural  man,  which  finds  in  the  purely 
human  its  highest  ideals  and  rejects  the  relation  to  the 
vision  of  a  future  beyond  this  life,  then  it  was  foreign 
to  the  medieval  mind,  as  it  is  foreign  to  Christianity. 
For  the  religious,  supernatural  element  was  central  in 
medieval  life.1  If  "Revival  of  Learning"  is  meant 
to  imply  that  the  ancient  classics  were  altogether 
unknown  during  the  Middle  Ages,  it  is  a  wrong  con- 
ception. But  should  the  word  designate  a  more 
extensive  study,  and,  above  all,  a  more  enthusiastic 
interest  in  classical  learning  which  developed  even 
into  excessive  admiration  for  antiquity,  it  is  correctly 
applied  to  the  period  closing  the  Middle  Ages. 

At  the  time  when  scholasticism  flourished  most, 
Dante  in  his  grand  poem,  which  has  been  styled  a 
"Poetical  Summa  Theologiae",  represents  the  har- 
monious combination  of  scholastic  and  classic  learn- 

1     Willmanii,  Didaktik,  vol.  I,  p.  289. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    49 

ing.1  In  this  immortal  work  classical  antiquity  and 
Christianity  go  hand  in  hand.  Virgil  is  no  less  his 
teacher  than  is  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  his  poetry  is 
the  beautiful  expression  of  the  union  between  faith 
and  reason. 2  The  whole  humanistic  movement  which 
began  soon  after  Dante,  was  not  so  much  a  change  of 
the  subject  of  learning  as  a  change  in  the  mental 
attitude  towards  these  subjects.3  This  attitude  as- 
sumed different  shapes  in  various  schools  of  humanists. 
Some  of  them,  particularly  the  earlier  humanists  in 
Germany,  combined  enthusiasm  for  the  classics  with 
faithful  allegiance  to  the  Church  ;  others  assumed  an 
attitude  of  indifference  or  scepticism  towards  Chris- 
tianity; others  again  showed  open  hostility,  not  only 
against  scholasticism,  but  against  Christian  dogma  and 
morality.  The  one  party,  the  more  conservative 
humanists,  admired  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers, 
but  looked  upon  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  higher  than 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  ancients.  Listen  to  Petrarch  ! 
"L,et  no  subtlety  of  argument,  no  grace  of  speech,  no 
renown  ensnare  us;  they  [the  ancients]  were  but  men, 
learned  so  far  as  mere  human  erudition  can  go,  but 

1  The  Vulgate  is  quoted  or  referred  to  more  than  500 
times  ;  Aristotle  more  than  300 ;  Virgil  about  200 ;  Ovid  about 
100;  Cicero  and  Lucan  about  30  and  40  each,  etc.     Taylor, 
/.  e.,  p.  365. 

2  Creighton,  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  II,   p.  332.  — 
Baumgartner,  Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur,  vol.  IV,  p.  469. 

3  For  the  history  of  this  movement  see  Pastor,  History 
of  the  Popes,  vols.  I  and  V.  —  Burckhardt,  History  of  the 
Renaissance  in  Italy ;    Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy ;    A. 
Baumgartner,   S.  J.,    Geschichte    der    Weltliterattir,  vol.  IV, 
pp.  469-623.  —  On  the  Renaissance  in  England  see  Gasquet, 
The  Eve  of  the  Reformation,  chapter  II,  and  especially  Kin- 
stein,   The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England. 

4 


50  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

deserving  of  pity,  inasmuch  as  they  lacked  the  highest 
and  ineffable  gift.  —  Let  us  study  philosophy  so  as  to 
love  wisdom.  The  real  wisdom  of  God  is  Christ.  — 
We  must  first  be  Christians.  We  must  read  philo- 
sophical, poetical,  and  historical  works  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  shall  ever  find  an 
echo  in  our  hearts.  Through  it  alone  can  we  become 
wise  and  happy;  without  it,  the  more  \ve  have  learned, 
the  more  ignorant  and  unhappy  we  shall  be.  On  the 
Gospel  alone,  as  upon  the  one  immovable  foundation, 
can  human  diligence  build  all  true  learning. ' ' 1 

Though  Petrarch  himself  did  not  escape  the  in- 
fluence of  the  dangerous  elements  contained  in  the 
writings  of  antiquity,  still  he  never  went  so  far  as  did 
his  friend  Boccaccio,  whose  writings  breathe  an  at- 
mosphere of  pagan  corruption.  And  yet  not  even  this 
writer  was  an  unbeliever,  or  an  enemy  to  the  Church. 

As  knowledge  is  good  in  itself  and  as  its  abuse 
never  justifies  its  suppression,  the  Church  considered 
the  study  of  classical  literature  as  a  legitimate  move- 
ment, productive  of  great  fruit  for  spiritual  and  secular 
science.  Thus  we  find  so  many  ardent  patrons  of  the 
new  learning  among  the  Popes  and  other  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries.  But  there  is  a  great  danger  in  the  one- 
sided enthusiasm  for  heathen  literature.  Everything 
depends  on  the  manner  in  which  the  ancient  authors 
are  read  and  employed  in  education.  They  must  be 
read  and  interpreted  in  the  spirit  of  the  Christian 
religion.  This  was  not  done  by  the  radical  humanists. 
They  not  only  praised  and  admired  the  elegant  style, 
the  brilliant  eloquence  and  poetry  of  the  ancients,  but 
wanted  to  effect  a  radical  return  to  pagan  thought  and 

1     EpisL  rer.  fam.  VI,  2.  —  Pastor,  /.  c.,  vol,  I,  p.  2. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    51 

manners.  They  imitated,  or  even  outdid,  some  of  the 
most  licentious  writers  of  antiquity  in  vile  and  obscene 
productions.  They  endeavored  to  resuscitate  ancient 
life,  and  not  in  its  best  forms.  The  horrible  crimes 
which  are  the  worst  blot  on  the  history  of  antiquity,  of 
Greece  in  particular,  were  made  the  subject  of  elegant 
verses.  And  the  vices  which  were  the  curse  of  Greece 
and  one  of  the  causes  of  its  downfall,  began  to  rage 
like  a  dreadful  plague  in  the  cities  of  Italy,  especially 
among  the  higher  class  of  society. l 

One  has  only  to  recall  the  names  of  such  humanists 
as  Valla,  Poggio,  Becadelli  and  others,  to  understand 
how  justly  this  class  of  writers  is  censured.  Their 
writings  have  been  called  '  *  an  abyss  of  iniquity 
wreathed  with  the  most  beautiful  flowers  of  poetry. ' ' 
It  was  against  this  flood  of  abomination  that  the 
zealous,  but  unfortunately  impetuous  and  stubborn 
Savonarola  directed  his  thundering  eloquence,  with 
only  a  temporary  result.  It  can  easily  be  imagined 
what  influence  this  new  paganism  exerted  on  youth. 
What  kind  of  moral  safeguard  could  be  expected  from 
teachers  of  the  stamp  of  Valla  ?  No  attempt  was  made 
to  keep  from  the  hands  of  the  young  books  which  in 
all  ages  have  been  proscribed  as  disastrous  to  morality. 
In  the  light  of  such  facts  the  anxiety  which  Ignatius 
of  Loyola,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  felt 
about  dangers  arising  from  the  indiscriminate  reading 
of  the  classics,  is  fully  justified.2  Not  a  few  of  the 
humanists  had  lost  all  faith.  Other  defects  of  the 
majority  of  the  humanists,  especially  their  exorbitant 

J     Pastor,  vol.  I,  p.  25. 

2     See  below  chapter  XVII. 


52  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

vanity  and  self  conceit,  have  been  deservedly  chastised 
by  various  authors. l 

It  became  especially  the  fashion  among  humanists 
to  sneer  at  the  "  metaphysical  juggleries"  and  the 
' '  barbarous  Latin ' '  of  the  scholastics.  It  is  true,  the 
all  absorbing  interest  in  philosophical  and  theological 
questions  had  caused  a  retrogression  in  the  study  of 
the  classical  authors.  But  this  loss  was  counteracted 
by  a  considerable  gain.  At  any  rate,  the  sweeping 
condemnations  of  the  humanists  were  not  justified. 
Modern  scholars  begin  to  see  the  service  rendered  to 
science  by  scholasticism,  and  not  a  few  defend  the 
schoolmen  against  the  ' '  arrogant  accusations  of  the 
humanists  ' '  as  Professor  Paulsen  calls  them.  '  *  We 
might  just  as  well  accept  the  judgments  of  socialists  on 
our  present  conditions  as  reliable  criticisms.  It  is  the 
task  of  the  historians  to  judge  the  past  from  what  it 
was  in  and  for  itself,  a  task  which  in  most  cases  means 
to  defend  it  against  that  which  immediately  succeeded. 
For  it  is  the  lot  of  all  historical  institutions  to  be 
thrown  aside  with  hatred  and  contempt  by  that  which 
follows.  Will  not  a  time  come  when  the  philological 
and  historical,  physical  and  other  inquiries  of  the 
present  appear  as  dreary  and  barren,  as  to  us  scholastic 
and  speculative  philosophy  appear?  "  2 

Not  only  Leibnitz,  but  modern  philosophers  as 
Hegel,  Edward  von  Hartmann,  and  the  rationalistic 
Professor  Harnack,  have  respected  the  schoolmen  as 
the  leaders  in  a  great  movement  and  defended  them 
against  their  calumniators.  Hartmann  admits  that 

1  For  instance  by   Paulsen,   Gesch.  des    gel.    Unt.}  pp. 
29 — 31,  (I,  51  foil.),  and  passim.     Baumgartner,  vol.  IV,   pp. 
487  foil.  —  On  Erasmus  see  Janssen,  vol.  Ill,  p.  11. 

2  Geschichte  des  gel.  Unt.,  p.  20.  (I,  p.  36). 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    53 

*  *  scholasticism  was  an  intellectual  system  wonderfully 
coherent  and  consistent  in  itself,  of  which  only  those 
judge  slightingly  who  have  not  yet  overcome  their 
hostility  to  it  and  have  not  yet  arrived  at  the  ob- 
jective view  of  history."  l 

From  Italy  the  literary  renaissance  spread  to  Spain, 
France,  England  and  Germany.  The  flourishing  con- 
dition of  the  schools  in  England  and  Germany,  de- 
scribed on  previous  pages,  was  chiefly  due  to  this 
movement.  The  radical  school  of  humanism,  hostile 
to  Christianity,  did  not  enter  England.  The  most 
distinguished  English  humanists  were  thorough  and 
practical  churchmen,2  or  laymen,  most  loyal  to  the 
Church.  Two  of  them,  Bishop  Fisher  and  Thomas 
More,  have  been  raised  by  the  Church  to  the  honor 
of  the  altar.  In  Germany,  matters  developed  very 
differently.  The  humanistic  movement  began  to  be 
felt  in  the  German  universities  after  1450.  Its  gradual 
entrance  into  the  various  seats  of  learning  is  well 
traced  by  Professor  Paulsen.3  However,  it  is  the  inner 
development  of  humanism  in  Germany  which  is  of 
greater  importance.4 

The  earlier  humanists,  as  Hegius  and  his  friends, 
had  contemplated  classical  antiquity  from  the  point  of 

1  Quoted  by  Willmann,  Geschichte  des  Idealismus,  vol. 
Ill ,  p.  855.     For  an  excellent  criticism  of  scholasticism  see 
vol.  II,  pp.  321—652. 

2  vSee  above  p.  30;  cf.  Gasquet,  The  Eve  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ,  chapter  II,   The  Revival  of  Letters  in  England,  pp.  14 — 
50.  —  Einstein,    The  Italian    Renaissance    in    England,    pp. 
18—57. 

s     Gesch.  des  gel.  Unt.,  pp.  44—127.  (I,  74—170). 

4  On  this  subject  see  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy, 
vol.  V.  The  German  Revolt,  cli.  I.  "Humanism  in  Ger- 
many," pp.  1 — 49. 


54  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

view  of  absolute  faith  in  Christianity.  Wimpheling 
expressed  their  sentiments  in  these  words  :  l<  It  is  not 
the  study  of  the  heathen  writers  in  itself  which  is 
dangerous  to  Christian  culture,  but  the  false  apprehen- 
sion and  handling  of  them,  as  is  often  done  in  Italy, 
where,  by  means  of  the  classics,  pagan  ways  of 
thought  and  life  are  spread  prejudicial  to  Christian 
morality  and  the  patriotic  spirit. ' ' 1 

Fundamentally  different  from  this  conservative 
school  were  the  younger  or  radical  humanists.  Wanton 
attacks  upon  the  Holy  See,  the  religious  orders, 
Catholic  doctrines  and  practices,  contempt  for  the 
whole  learning  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  for  their  own 
mother  tongue,  or  even  a  worse  than  pagan  im- 
morality in  their  writings  characterize  the  great  ma- 
jority of  this  school  of  "  Poets"  in  Germany  as  in 
Italy.  The  chief  representative  of  humanism  in  Ger- 
many was  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  who  exercised  an 
enormous  influence  on  his  times.  The  extent  and 
variety  of  his  knowledge  in  almost  every  branch  of 
contemporary  learning,  his  untiring  activity  in  all 
directions,  his  consummate  mastery  and  artistic  treat- 
ment of  the  L,atin  tongue,  and  the  variety  and  rich- 
ness of  his  style  were  equalled  by  few.  He  brought 
forth  fresh  editions  of  the  Bible,  of  the  Greek  classics 
and  Fathers,  and  original  treatises  in  every  branch  of 
literature.  But  he  was  altogether  wanting  in  intellectual 
depth.  He  traveled  through  England,  Italy,  and  France 
as  a  mere  book -worm  without  eye  or  understanding  for 
national  life  and  character.  His  freedom  in  the  use 

1  Janssen,  vol.  Ill ,  pp.  1—2.  For  the  following  see  the 
same  volume,  pp.  1—79,  and  Guggenberger,  S.  J.,  A  General 
History  of  the  Christian  Era,  vol.  II,  p.  133. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    55 

of  calumny,  his  talent  for  fulsome  flattery  to  obtain 
money  and  presents,  matched  only  by  his  malignant 
spite  against  adversaries,  destroyed  all  proportions  be- 
tween his  literary  achievements  and  his  character.1 
The  leaders  among  the  younger  humanists  who,  when 
not  fighting  the  theologians,  devoted  their  energies  to 
the  composition  of  vapid  verses  and  lewd  poems,  were 
Conrad  Celtes,  Eobanus  Hessus,  Crotus  Rubianus, 
Conrad  Rufus,  Mutian,  the  dissolute  Ulric  of  Hutten, 
the  knight-errant  of  humanism,  and  a  host  of  minor 
scribblers.  In  their  school  work  they  read  the  most 
profligate  pagan  poetry  with  their  young  pupils,  and 
introduced  a  reign  of  unrestrained  license  at  Erfurt  and 
other  universities  and  schools. 

In  Germany,  as  well  as  in  Italy,  this  reaction  in 
the  renaissance  took  a  special  coloring  from  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  melancholy  period  in  which  it  oc- 
curred. From  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century 
deplorable  effects  had  been  manifesting  themselves  in 
the  Church.  The  authority  of  the  Pope  had  been 
weakened,  a  great  part  of  the  clergy  was  steeped  in 
worldliness  ;  scholastic  philosophy  and  theology  had 
declined  and  terrible  disorders  were  rife  in  political 
and  civil  life.  The  dangerous  elements,  which  no 
doubt  ancient  literature  contained,  were  presented  to 
a  generation  intellectually  and  physically  overwrought 
and  in  many  ways  unhealthy.  It  is  no  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  some  of  the  adherents  of  the  new  tendency 

1  A  much  kindlier  view  of  Krasmus  is  taken  in  the  highly 
interesting  chapter  on  "Erasmus",  in  Gasquet's  The  Eve  of 
the  Reformation,  pp.  155 — 207.  There  his  attitude  towards 
IvUther  and  his  loyalty  to  the  Catholic  Church  are  admirably 
set  forth. 


56  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

turned  aside  into  perilous  paths.1  In  particular  the 
nepotism,  worldly  life,  unscrupulous  state  policy,  and 
scandalous  appointments  to  high  places,  for  which 
some  of  the  Popes  were  responsible,  and  the  scandals 
connected  with  the  name  of  Alexander  VI.,  furnished 
welcome  weapons  to  diets,  to  princes  and  agitators, 
who,  under  the  guise  of  "reform  in  head  and  mem- 
bers," pursued  their  own  selfish  ends  and  aimed  at 
nothing  less  than  the  secularization  of  ecclesiastical 
property  and  the  usurpation  of  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction.2 

Besides  these  abuses,  affecting  the  Church  at  large, 
there  were  others  threatening  Germany  in  particular. 
It  is  true  there  existed  a  great  love  of  learning  among 
all  classes,  and  piety  and  active  charity  were  found 
among  a  great  number  of  clergy  and  laity.  As  we 
have  seen,  in  the  lower  elementary  and  the  advanced 
middle  schools  a  sound  basis  of  popular  education  was 

1     Pastor,  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  I,  p.  12. 

1  Guggenberger,  vol.  II,  p.  147.  However,  it  is  fair  to 
mention  that  there  were  not  only  deep  shadows  in  this  period 
but  also  gleams  of  sunshine.  The  pagan  tendencies  were  not 
absolutely  general.  The  religious  orders  gave  to  the  Church 
a  line  of  saintly,  brilliant,  and  truly  apostolic  preachers,  who 
fearlessly  raised  their  voices  against  the  sins  and  failings  of 
high  and  low,  ecclesiastics  and  laymen.  Nor  were  their 
efforts  in  vain,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  conversion  of  whole 
towns  and  provinces,  effected  by  Vincent  Ferrer,  Bernardine  of 
Siena,  John  Capistran,  Savonarola,  and  others.  And  beside 
the  many  unworthy  prelates  and  priests  of  the  period,  the  his- 
torian meets,  in  every  country  of  Christendom,  with  a  great 
number  of  men  distinguished  alike  for  virtue  and  learning. 
The  number  of  Saints  of  this  period,  especially  in  the  Francis- 
can and  Dominican  Orders,  is  exceedingly  great,  a  proof  that 
the  Church  had  not  lost  her  saving  and  sanctifying  power. 
See  Pastor,  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  I,  pp.  32—38. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    57 

established ;  the  universities  attained  a  height  of  dis- 
tinction never  dreamt  of  in  former  times.  And  art 
developed  more  rapidly  than  learning.  But  there  were 
many  dangerous  symptoms  in  religious,  social  and  po- 
litical life.1  In  all  departments  perplexity  and  con- 
fusion were  visible.  A  mass  of  inflammable  material 
was  ready  everywhere,  and  it  needed  but  a  spark  to 
set  the  whole  mass  ablaze.  This  spark  came  from 
Wittenberg. 


§  3.  Education  under  the  Influence  of  the  Reformation. 

Luther  was  undoubtedly  a  man  endowed  with  the 
highest  natural  gifts.  Still  he  was  not  what  Protestant 
tradition  has  made  him.2  "On  the  part  of  the  Protes- 
tants," writes  one  of  Germany's  historians,  the  Prot- 
estant K.  A.  Menzel,  "it  is  an  accepted  maxim  to 
represent  to  oneself  the  Reformers  as  lords  and  half 
saints.  This  prejudice  is  indeed  broken  in  circles  that 
are  conversant  with  history,  but  among  the  large  mass 
of  the  evangelical  population  it  is  still  maintained,  not, 
however,  to  the  preservation  of  truth.  It  passes  cur- 
rent as  'cultured',  and  is  paraded  as  a  mark  of  'scien- 
tific investigation'  to  undermine  with  criticism  and 
negation  even  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christian- 
ity. But  woe  to  him  who  with  the  torch  of  science 
invades  the  vestibule  of  the  temple  in  which  prejudice 

1  These  symptoms  are  summed  up  by  Janssen,  vol.  II, 
passim,  especially  pp.  285 — 302.  —  Guggenberger,  vol.  II,  pp, 
146-151. 

1  See:  Luther  and  his  Protestant  Biographers,  by  the 
Rev.  H.  G.  Ganss  in  the  American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review r, 
July  1900;  also  The  Messenger,  Nov.  1902. 


58  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  tradition  have  erected  the  throne  of  the  'heroes 
of  the  Reformation'  and  their  works.  The  historical 
investigator  who  possesses  such  a  foolhardiness  is  sure 
to  be  decried  as  a  Crypto-Catholic. ' ' 1  Not  a  few 
Protestant  historians  frankly  confess  that  the  whole 
structure  of  Reformation  history  must  undergo  a 
change  from  its  very  foundation.  One  of  them  says  : 
"Too  great  is  the  rubbish  and  garbage  which,  inten- 
tionally or  unintentionally,  the  prevailing  theological 
standpoint  concerning  the  Reformation  period  has  in- 
augurated. ' ' 2  From  original  documents  a  picture  of 
the  Reformers,  very  different  from  the  traditional  one, 
has  been  presented  by  the  "fear- inspiring  book  of 
Dollmger"  and  by  "Janssen's  crushing  examination  of 
the  Luther  myth  which  produced  a  tremendous  up- 
roar in  Germany. "  3  A  great  deal  of  ' ' rubbish  and 
garbage"  has  also  hidden  the  truth  in  regard  to  the 
influence  of  Luther  and  the  Reformation  on  education. 
It  is  a  fact  of  no  little  significance  that  Luther's 
first  confederates  were  the  radical  humanists.  In  their 
hatred  against  scholastic  learning  and  ecclesiastical 
authority  they  welcomed  Luther's  audacious  attacks 
on  the  Church.  Luther  himself  had  tried  at  an  early 
date  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  humanistic  con- 
federacy.4 After  the  example  of  Luther  the  younger 
humanists,  these  inveterate  enemies  of  all  religion, 
now  accustomed  themselves  to  a  Biblical  style  of  lan- 

1  Neue  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  vol.  II,  p.  44,  quoted 
by  Ganss,   /.   c.y  p.  699,  where   similar  statements   of   other 
Protestants  may  be  found. 

2  Professor  Maurenbrecher  of    the  Konigsberg  Univer- 
sity, ib. 

3  London  Athenaeum,  Dec.  1884,  p.  729. 

4  Janssen,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  100—101. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    59 

guage ;  they  even  became  of  a  sudden  scholars  of 
divinity  and  delivered  lectures  on  theological  subjects. 
Luther  did  not  shrink  from  a  formal  alliance  with  the 
most  violent  of  these  enemies  of  the  existing  order,  the 
gifted  but  utterly  corrupt  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  who  at 
that  time  together  with  Franz  von  Sickingen  planned 
a  revolution  against  the  Emperor.1 

This  was  indeed  a  remarkable  alliance.  Prof.  Paul- 
sen's  comment  on  it  is  worth  quoting:  *  'The  humanists 
offered  their  assistance  to  the  monk  whose  controver- 
sies they  had  shortly  before  despised  as  a  monkish 
quarrel.  'Evangelical  liberty'  became  their  war-cry 
instead  of  'learning  and  humanity'.  It  is  only  through 
this  alliance  that  Luther's  cause,  which  had  begun  as 
a  'monkish  quarrel',  became  that  tremendous  revolu- 
tionary movement  which  unhinged  the  gates  of  the 
Church.  A  reminder  of  humanism  is  that  naturalism 
contained  in  the  pure  gospel,  that  addition  which 
appears  so  strange  in  Luther's  writings,  when  now  and 
then  he  represents  the  works  of  the  flesh  as  divine 
commandments  and  continence  as  well  nigh  a  rebellion 
against  God's  word  and  will :  almost  as  if  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  flesh  was  to  be  realized  through  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  Of  course  this  must  not  be  understood 
as  though  these  elements  had  not  existed  in  Luther's 
nature,  in  his  views  and  sentiments,  but  it  was  only 
under  the  influence  of  humanism  that  they  developed. 
Under  different  circumstances  they  might  have  re- 
mained latent. ' ' *  Luther  and  Loyola  have  often  been 
contrasted,  the  one  as  the  leader  of  the  Protestant 
Revolution,  the  other  as  prominent  in  the  counter- 

1  Janssen,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  106  foil. 

2  Gesch.  des  gel.  £/;//.,  pp.  128-29.     (2.  ed.  I,  174  foil.). 


60  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

reformation.  Luther  tried  to  reform  by  a  revolution, 
by  a  complete  break  with  the  past1;  Loyola  by  a  real 
reformation.  Luther  changed  the  doctrine,  Loyola 
saw,  as  his  first  companion,  Peter  Faber,  has  it,  that 
4 'not  the  head,  but  the  heart,  not  the  doctrine,  but  the 
life  needed  a  change.''  Luther  allied  himself  with 
the  radical  humanists,  Loyola  imitated  the  earlier 
conservative  humanists. 

That  a  Christian  reformer  followed  the  earlier 
humanists,  who  were  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  Christianity,  as  Vittorino  da  Feltre,  Hegius, 
Agricola,  Wimpheling,  is  natural.  But,  as  Paulsen 
remarks,  "it  is  a  strange  phenomenon  that  a  man 
(Luther)  who  seemed  to  be  made  to  fight  with  Savo- 
narola against  the  worldliness  of  the  Church  intro- 
duced by  humanism,  had  to  unite  himself  with  Hutten 
for  the  extirpation  of  monasticism.  True,  it  is  stran- 
ger still  that  Hutten  could  make  common  cause  with 
Luther  against  the  Papacy  whose  representative  was 
a  Medici,  against  a  Church  which  raised  such  patrons 
of  learning  as  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Mentz  to  the 
highest  dignities.  Well  might  one  have  warned  Hut- 
ten  not  to  cut  the  branch  on  which  he  was  sitting."2 

The  humanists  had,  indeed,  cut  the  branch.  — 
Humanism  was  ruined  by  its  alliance  with  the  Refor- 
mation, and  as  early  as  1524  the  eyes  of  the  humanists 
were  opened.  The  universities  and  schools  were 
almost  annihilated  in  the  storms  of  religious  strife. 
Professor  Paulsen  shows  this  in  detail  in  regard  to  the 

1  Protestants  frequently  object  to  the  appellation  "re- 
volution", as  applied  to  the  Reformation.      However,  men 
like  Haruack  openly  declare  that  it  was  a  revolution.     See 
What  is  Christianity?  Lecture  XV,  pp.  277-281.   Paulsen,  /.  c. 

2  L.  6'.,  p.  129.     (1.  ed.;cf.  2.  ed.  I,  p.  174  foil.) 


EDUCATION  BEFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THK  SOCIETY.    6 1 

various  German  universities,1  as  Wittenberg,  Erfurt, 
Leipsic,  Frankfurt,  Rostock,  Greifswald,  Cologne, 
Vienna,  Heidelberg,  etc.  Ingolstadt,  of  all  German 
universities,  was  least  affected  by  the  Reformation. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Eck  the  Lutheran  invasion 
was  energetically  combated.  The  number  of  students 
declined  somewhat,  but  not  considerably,  so  that  this 
university  shows  the  most  favorable  conditions  of  all 
universities.  2  The  same  decline  was  visible  in  the 
lower  schools.  Dollinger  has  collected  a  long  list  of 
complaints  that  could  be  easily  enlarged,  about  the 
ruin  of  the  schools  consequent  upon  the  religious 
revolution. 3 

The  humanist  Eobanus  Hessus  writes  from  Erfurt 
in  the  year  1523  :  "Under  the  cloak  of  the  Gospel  the 
escaped  monks  here  are  suppressing  all  liberal  studies. 
Our  university  is  quite  deserted ;  we  are  utterly  de- 
spised."  In  the  same  year  the  Dean  of  the  Erfurt 
philosophical  faculty  complains :  * '  Nobody  would 
have  believed  it,  if  it  had  been  predicted  that  in  a  short 
time  our  university  would  have  fallen  so  low  that 
scarcely  a  shadow  of  its  former  lustre  would  remain. ' ' 
In  the  same  strain  lament  Melanchthon  from  Witten- 
berg, and  others  from  all  seats  of  learning  throughout 
Germany. 

Erasmus,  an  eye-witness  of  the  first  scenes  in  the 
great  drama  of  the  Reformation,  the  intimate  friend  of 
Melanchthon  and  other  Reformers,  writes  in  1528  : 
"Wherever  L,utheranism  reigns,  there  literature  per- 

1  Paulsen,  /.  c.9  pp.  133-144.     (I,  pp.  184—195.) 

2  Ibid.,  p.  143.     (I,  p.  194.) 

1    Die  Reformation,  vol.  I,  pp.  418-545;   see  also  Jans- 
sen,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  355-365 ;  vol.  VII,  p.  11  foil. 


62  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ishes.  I  dislike  these  gospellers  on  many  accounts, 
but  chiefly,  because  through  their  agency  literature 
everywhere  languishes,  disappears,  lies  drooping  and 
perishes  :  and  yet,  without  learning,  what  is  a  man's 
life  ?  They  love  good  cheer  and  a  wife  ;  for  other 
things  they  care  not  a  straw."1  In  a  letter  to  Mel- 
anchthon  he  states  that  at  Strasburg  the  Protestant 
party  had  publicly  taught,  in  1524,  that  it  was  not 
right  to  cultivate  any  science,  and  that  no  language 
should  be  studied  except  the  Hebrew.  In  fact,  who 
was  to  be  blamed  for  this  rapid  decay  of  schools  but 
the  Reformers  themselves?  Carlstadt  was  not  only 
a  fanatic  in  his  hatred  of  Catholic  doctrines  and 
customs,  but  also  spoke  with  contempt  of  all  human 
learning.  He  advised  the  students  to  return  to  their 
homes  and  resume  the  spade  or  follow  the  plough,  and 
cultivate  the  earth,  because  man  was  to  eat  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  his  brow.  George  Mohr,  master  of  the 
boys'  school  at  Wittenberg,  carried  away  by  a  similar 
madness,  called  from  his  window  to  the  burghers  out- 
side to  come  and  remove  their  children.  Where, 
indeed,  was  the  use  of  continuing  their  studies,  since 
a  mechanic  was  just  as  well,  nay,  perhaps  better 
qualified  than  all  the  divines  in  the  world,  to  preach 
the  Gospel.2 

The  Anabaptists  in  Miinster  decided  that  there  was 
only  one  book  necessary  to  salvation,  the  Bible,  all 
others  should  be  burned  as  useless  or  dangerous. 

1  Hallam,  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  in 
the  fifteenth ,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  vol.  I,  chap- 
ter VI,  p.  189,  note  (Harper's  ed.  1842).  —  Janssen,  vol.  Ill, 
p.  357.  —  Dollinger,  /.  c.,  vol.  I,  p.  470  foil. 

2  See  Archbishop  Spalding's  The  Reformation  in  Ger- 
many, chap.  XIII. — Dollinger,  Die  Reformation,  vol.  I,  p.  423. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    63 

This  decision  was  carried  out,  and  whole  libraries 
with  numerous  precious  manuscripts  of  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  perished  in  the  flames.  Popes,  bishops, 
and  councils  during  the  Middle  Ages,  had  enforced 
the  obligation  of  establishing  schools  throughout 
Christendom.  The  vandalism  of  some  Reformers 
destroyed  innumerable  monasteries  and  with  them 
schools  without  number.  The  funds  for  the  support 
of  these  schools  had  been  accumulated  by  the  piety, 
zeal  and  liberality  of  previous  ages. 

No  one  is  more  responsible  for  this  sad  change 
than  Luther  himself.  If,  with  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Scripture  could  be  interpreted  by  "a  miller's 
maid  and  a  boy  of  nine  years  better  than  by  all  the 
popes  and  cardinals,"  — these  are  Luther's  words,  — 
of  what  value  could  human  learning  be  in  religion  ? 
Nay  more,  according  to  Luther's  early  teaching  higher, 
learning  was  not  only  useless,  but  positively  danger- 
ous. He  spoke  with  a  fierce  hatred  against  higher 
schools  and  human  learning.  Professor  Paulsen  ad- 
mits that  the  vehemence  of  tone  in  which  Luther 
spoke  of  the  universities  as  the  real  bulwarks  of  the 
devil  on  earth,  has  perhaps  never  been  rivalled  before 
or  after  by  any  attack  on  these  institutions.1  A  few 
specimens  of  these  invectives  may  suffice. 

According  to  Luther,  everything  instituted  by  the 
papacy  was  only  intended  to  augment  sin  and  error, 
so  also  were  the  universities.  It  is  the  devil  himself 
who  has  introduced  study;  there  reigns  the  damned, 
haughty  and  wicked  Aristotle,  from  whose  works 
Christian  youth  is  instructed.2  And  yet  "a  man  who 

1  L.  c.,  p.  134.     (I,  p.  185.) 

2  Paulsen,  ib. 


64  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

boasts  the  title  of  philosopher  cannot  be  called  a 
Christian."  "The  Moloch  to  which  the  Jews  offered 
up  their  children,  are  the  higher  schools  (hohen 
Schulen  =  universities),  in  which  the  best  part  of 
youth  is  sacrificed  as  a  burnt  offering.  There  they 
are  instructed  in  false  heathen  art  and  godless  human 
knowledge  :  this  is  the  fire  of  Moloch  which  no  one 
can  weep  over  enough,  through  which  the  most  pious 
and  most  clever  boys  are  miserably  ruined."1  "The 
higher  schools  all  deserve  to  be  ground  to  dust ; 
nothing  more  hellish,  nothing  more  devilish  has 
appeared  on  earth,  nor  will  ever  appear.  These  schools 
have  been  invented  by  no  one  else  than  the  devil. ' ' 2 
Luther  hated  the  universities  because  they  exalted 
reason,  "the  light  of  nature",  too  much.  To  Luther 
reason  is  only  "the  devil's  bride,  a  beautiful  prostitute 
of  the  devil. "  3  "Human  reason  is  sheer  darkness." 
The  faithful  strangle  reason  and  say:  "Hearest  thou, 
a  mad  blind  fool  thou  art,  understandest  not  a  bit  of 
the  things  that  are  God's.  Thus  the  believers  throttle 
this  beast."4 

It  is  surprising  to  see  that  Melanchthon  fell  in  with 
the  tone  of  Luther. 5  He  denounced  universities, 
philosophy,  and  ethics,  almost  as  violently  as  his 
master,  but  only  for  a  time ;  lie  soon  abated  the 
violence  of  his  sentiments,  whereas  Luther  to  the  end 

1  Luther's  Werke,  ed.  Walch  XIX,  1430.    See  Dollinger, 
/.  r.,  vol.  I,  p.  475  foil. — Jansseu,  vol.  II   (German   ed.  18), 
pp.  211-213. 

2  /£.,  XII,  45;  XI,  459. 

3  See   Dollinger,   Die    Reformation,    vol.    I   (2nd   ed.), 
pp.  477  foil. 

4  /£.,  p.  479. 

6     Paulsen,  pp.  135  foil. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OE  THE  SOCIETY.    65 

of  his  life  preserved  his  bitterness  against  natural 
reason.  Innumerable  other  preachers  began  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  pouring  forth  virulent  abuse  against 
all  enlightened  knowledge  and  secular  learning. 

Can  we  then  wonder  that  the  parents,  prejudiced 
by  such  inflammatory  declamations,  became  averse 
not  only  to  higher  learning,  as  it  had  existed  before 
the  religious  disturbances,  but  to  schools  in  general  ? 
No  wonder  that  the  lower  schools  also  began  to  be 
neglected,  so  that  contemporary  writers  say:  " About 
the  year  1525  schools  began  to  decline,  and  no  one 
wanted  to  send  his  children  to  school,  as  people  had 
heard  so  much  from  Luther's  writings  of  how  the 
priests  and  the  learned  had  so  pitiably  seduced  man- 
kind." The  official  report  of  the  inspectors  of  the 
district  of  Wittenberg,  the  centre  and  starting  point  of 
L,uther's  *  "reform",  informs  us  in  the  year  1533:  "The 
city  schools  which,  in  addition  to  the  instruction  they 
imparted,  had  given  the  children  a  material  mainten- 
ance, are  alarmingly  decreasing."  1 

Luther  himself  was  appalled  at  this  desolation,  for 
he  knew  full  well  the  importance  of  the  school.  With 
bitter  invective  and  reproach  he  lashes  the  indifference 
of  the  people  and  the  avarice  of  the  princes  who,  after 
having  squandered  the  property  of  the  Church  and 
the  funds  of  the  schools,  refused  to  do  anything  for 
establishing  new  schools  or  even  for  maintaining  those 
in  existence.  "Formerly'',  he  says,  "when  we  were 
the  slaves  of  Satan,  and  profaned  the  blood  of  Christ, 

1     Dollinger,    Die   Reformation,    vol.    I,   p.    466   foil.  — 
Numerous  contemporary  testimonies  to  the  same  effect  may 
be  seen  in  Janssen's  Geschichte  des    deutschen   Volkes  (Ger- 
man edition,  18),  vol.  II,  p.  322;  vol.  VII,  pp.  11-211. 
5 


66  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

all  purses  were  open  ;  then  nothing  was  spared  to  put 
children  in  the  cloister  or  to  send  them  to  school.  But 
now  when  we  must  establish  good  schools  (rechte 
Schulen)  —  establish,  did  I  say,  no,  but  only  pre- 
serve the  buildings  in  good  condition  —  the  purses 
are  closed  with  iron  chains.  The  children  are  neg- 
lected, no  one  teaches  them  to  serve  God,  while  they 
are  joyfully  immolated  to  Mammon."  But  herein 
Luther  was  inconsistent.  Had  he  not  taught  people 
again  and  again  that  good  works  were  useless?  Why 
should  they  make  any  sacrifice  of  money  for  a  pious 
work  like  that  of  education  ?  And  was  it  a  good  and 
pious  work  at  all  ?  This  might  have  been  asked  by 
those  who  remembered  Luther's  reckless  invectives 
against  higher  schools. 

Luther  was  absolutely  powerless  to  remedy  the  evil 
which  grew  worse  daily.  Therefore  he  appealed  earn- 
estly to  the  Protestant  princes  and  magistrates  to 
found  and  support  schools.  He  told  them  that  it  was 
their  right,  nay,  their  duty  to  oblige  their  subjects  to 
send  their  children  to  school.  As  is  evident,  Luther 
had  been  forced  to  this  step  because  his  voice,  always 
"omnipotent  when  it  preached  destruction  and  spolia- 
tion, now  fell  powerless  when  it  was  at  length  raised 
to  enforce  the  necessity  of  liberal  contribution  for  the 
rearing  of  institutions  to  replace  those  which  had  been 
wantonly  destroyed. ' ' l  Compulsory  education,  accord- 
ingly, is  a  child  of  the  Reformation;  so  is  also  the 
state-monopoly  which  gradually  developed  in  European 
countries. 2 

1  Spalding,  The  Reformation  in  Germany,  ch.  14. 

2  Another  result  of  the  Reformation  has  been  pointed 
out  by  President  Butler  of  Columbia  University,  New  York : 


EDUCATION  BKFORK  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY,    67 

The  princes  and  magistrates  to  whom  leather 
appealed  for  establishing  new  schools,  were  slow  in 
following  these  admonitions,  whereas  they  had  been 
most  docile  when  told  to  confiscate  the  rich  abbeys 
and  monasteries  which  had  maintained  many  educa- 
tional institutions.  L,uther  himself  complained  that 
so  little  heed  was  paid  to  his  words.  In  1528  a  new 
"  Order "  for  the  cities  of  Saxony  was  prepared  by 
Melanchthon.  In  1559  appeared  the  ' 'Church  and 
School  Order  of  Wii rttemberg. ' ' 1  Very  different  from 
the  attitude  of  I/uther  was  that  of  Melanchthon  tow- 
ards higher  studies.  L,uther  saw  in  humanistic  studies 
only  a  weapon  for  theological  purposes  ;  but  Melanch- 
thon was  himself  a  humanist  and  believed  that  study 
of  the  ancient  languages  and  literature  offered  im- , 
mediate  educational  benefit  to  the  student.  2  Melanch- 
thon has  been  called  Praeceptor  Germaniae,  and  this 
he  was  for  the  Protestant  part  of  that  country.  His 
system  was  an  adaptation  of  the  humanistic  principles 
of  Erasmus,  and  especially  of  Rudolph  Agricola,3  who 
*  was  prominent  among  the  earlier  conservative 
humanists. 

It  is  evident  that  lather's  merits  in  regard  to 
education  have  been  exaggerated.  The  words  of  the 
Protestant  Hallam  deserve  to  be  more  universally 

"The  separation  of  religious  training  from  education  as  a 
whole  is  the  outgrowth  of  Protestantism  and  democracy." 
Educational  Review,  December  1899,  p.  427. — Why  democracy 
should  be  a  cause  of  this  separation  is  not  clear  to  me,  nor 
are  the  arguments,  adduced  by  President  Butler,  convincing. 

1  On  the  development  of   the    Protestant  schools  see 
Paulsen,  /.  c.y  p.  145  foil.  (I,  209).  —  Ziegler,  /.  c.,  p.  61  foil. 

2  Dr.  Nohle,  in  Rep.  of  Com.  of  Ed.,  1897-98,  vol.  I,  p.  30. 

3  Ziegler,  Geschichte  der  Padagogik,  p.  69. 


68  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

known  :  "  Whatever  may  be  the  ideas  of  our  minds  as 
to  the  truth  of  Luther's  doctrines,  we  should  be  care- 
ful ....  not  to  be  misled  by  the  superficial  and  un- 
grounded representations  which  we  sometimes  find  in 
modern  writers.  Such  is  this  that  L,uther,  struck  by 
the  absurdity  of  the  prevailing  superstitions,  was 
desirous  of  introducing  a  more  rational  system  of 
religion.  .  .  .,  or,  what  others  have  been  pleased  to 
suggest,  that  his  zeal  for  learning  and  ancient  philo- 
sophy led  him  to  attack  the  ignorance  of  the  monks 
and  the  crafty  policy  of  the  Church,  which  withstood 
all  liberal  studies.  These  notions  are  merely  fallacious 
refinements,  as  every  man  of  plain  understanding  who 
is  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  the  early  reformers, 
or  has  considered  their  history,  must  acknowledge. 
The  doctrines  of  Luther,  taken  altogether,  are  not 
more  rational  than  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  nor 
did  he  even  pretend  that  they  were  so  ...  nor,  again, 
is  there  any  foundation  for  imagining  that  L,uther  was 
concerned  for  the  interests  of  literature.  None  had  he 
himself,  save  theological ;  nor  are  there,  as  I  appre- 
hend, many  allusions  to  profane  studies,  or  any  proof 
of  his  regard  to  them,  in  all  his  works.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  probable  that  both  the  principles  of  this 
great  founder  of  the  Reformation,  and  the  natural 
tendency  of  so  intense  an  application  to  theological 
controversy,  checked  for  a  time  the  progress  of  philo- 
logical and  philosophical  literature  on  this  side  of  the 
Alps."1  As  regards  the  much  vaunted  intellectual 

1  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe -,  vol.  I,  p.  165 
(Harper's  ed.  1842).  — Hence  it  is  utterly  false  to  say  that  the 
reform  of  the  studies  in  the  sixteenth  century  was,  in  the  first 
place,  a  Protestant  work.  And  yet  this  statement  is  repeated 
again  and  again. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.    69 

and  religious  liberty  of  the  Reformers,  it  is  well  known 
that  they  very  soon  exercised  an  unbearable  tyranny. 
Hallam  was  honest  enough  to  admit  this,  however 
reluctantly.  * 

On  the  eve  of  the  Reformation,  England*  possessed 
a  great  number  of  secondary  schools.  Both  these  and 
the  universities  suffered  greatly  from  the  Reformation 
and  the  events  connected  with  it.  When  by  the  order 
of  Henry  VIII.  the  monasteries  were  suppressed, 
numberless  precious  manuscripts  and  other  contents 
of  monastic  libraries  disappeared,  and  are  now  lost  to 
the  world  beyond  recovery.  Grocers  and  soap-sellers 
bought  them  for  their  business  purposes.  2  Learning, 
both  secular  and  religious,  rapidly  declined,  and  de- 
terioration was  felt  in  all  grades  of  education.  Most 
of  the  schools  at  this  time  were  closed,  without  pro- 
vision for  a  substitute.  Moreover,  the  monasteries  and 
convents  had  supported  scholars  at  the  universities, 
or  provided  for  young  clerics  until  their  ordination, 
when  they  supplied  them  with  a  title.  This  change 
was  felt  immediately.  From  1506  to  1535  the  average 
number  of  yearly  degrees  granted  at  Oxford  had  been 
127.  In  1535  the  number  was  108.  In  that  year  the 
operations  against  the  monasteries  were  commenced. 
In  the  following  year  the  number  of  graduates  fell  to 
only  44  ;  the  average  number  till  1548  was  less  than 
57,  from  1548  till  1553  not  more  than  33,  but  it  rose 
again  under  Queen  Maty  to  70. 3  The  University  of 
Cambridge  suffered  not  less  than  Oxford. 

1  Ib.,  p.  200.     Also  Dollinger,  Die  Reformation,  vol.  I, 
pp.  546—563,  and  especially  Paulsen  I,  212—214. 

2  Gasquet,  Henry  VIII,  and  the   English  Monasteries, 
vol.  II,  p.  423. 

3  Gasquet,  The  Eve  of  the  Reformation,  p.  41  foil. 


7O  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

The  scholars  of  Cambridge,  in  1545,  petitioned 
King  Henry  for  privileges,  as  they  feared  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  monasteries  would  altogether  annihilate 
learning. l  For  a  time  these  great  homes  of  learning 
were  threatened  with  nothing  less  than  ruin.  Thus 
it  is  undeniable  that  the  dissolution  of  monasteries,  in 
1536  and  the  next  two  years,  gave  a  great  temporary 
check  to  the  general  state  of  letters  in  England. 

Hallam  attempts  to  palliate  this  charge,  but  in 
vain.  Let  us  contemplate  the  picture  which  Latimer, 
the  fanatic  opponent  of  Catholicism,  drew  in  1550  of 
the  state  of  education  in  England.  His  words  are 
almost  identical  with  those  of  Luther.2  "In  those 
da}^s  (before  the  suppression  of  monasteries) ,  what  did 
they  when  they  helped  the  scholars  ?  Marry  !  They 
maintained  and  gave  them  livings  that  were  very 
JPapists  and  professed  the  Pope's  doctrine ;  and  now 
that  the  knowledge  of  God's  word  is  brought  to  light, 
and  many  earnestly  study  and  labour  to  set  it  forth, 
now  almost  no  man  helpeth  to  maintain  them. "  .  .  . 
4 'Truly  it  is  a  pitiable  thing  to  see  schools  so  neglected; 
every  true  Christian  ought  to  lament  the  same ;  to 
consider  what  has  been  plucked  from  abbeys,  colleges 
and  chantries,  it  is  a  marvel  no  more  to  be  bestowed 
upon  this  holy  office  of  salvation.  Schools  are  not 
maintained,  scholars  have  no  exhibitions.  ...  I  think 
there  be  at  this  day  twenty  thousand  students  less 
than  within  these  twenty  years  and  fewer  preachers." 
Anthony  Wood,  in  his  History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
University  of  Oxford,  writes  :  "Most  of  the  halls  and 

1  Fuller's  History  of  the   University  of  Cambridge,  in 
Gasquet,  Henry  VIII ,  etc.,  vol.  II,  p.  519. 

2  See  above,  p.  65—66. 


EDUCATION  BEFORE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE)  SOCIETY.    71 

hostels  iii  Oxford  were  left  empty.     Arts  declined  and 
ignorance  began  to  take  place  again. ' ' * 

This  sketch  of  the  status  of  education  previous  to 
the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  warrants  us  to 
draw  the  following  conclusions.  First,  a  reform  was 
urgently  needed,  not  only  in  the  religious  and  moral 
sphere  but  also  in  education.  There  was  a  great 
literary  activity  all  over  Christendom.  In  the  coun- 
tries most  affected  by  the  Reformation,  this  activity 
was  checked  for  a  time,  in  Germany  almost  annihi- 
lated. In  those  countries  which  were  less  affected  by 
the  religious  revolution,  the  educational  work  was  not 
formed  into  a  well  balanced  system  of  instruction  and 
discipline.  Further,  the  teaching  of  the  classics  was 
in  many  cases  carried  on  in  a  pagan  spirit.  The 
Catholic  reform  centres  around  the  Council  of  Trent. 
The  members  of  a  Commission  preparatory  to  this 
Council,  mostly  refined  humanists  and  university 
scholars,  pointed  out  as  one  of  the  great  abuses  in  the 
Church,  that  "in  the  public  schools,  especially  of 
Italy,  many  teach  impiety."  This  was  stated  in  1538, 
two  years  before  the  approbation  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  In  this  Society  "the  Church  of  Rome,  deeply 
shaken  by  open  schism  and  lurking  disaffection,  was 
to  find  an  unexpected  strength.  The  Jesuits  were 
speedily  to  acquire  a  vast  influence  by  the  control  of 
education."2  In  fact,  the  Jesuits  were  to  give  to 
Catholic  countries  a  uniform  system  of  education, 
which  was  so  sadly  needed  at  the  time.  They  were 
to  purify  and  elevate  the. teaching  of  the  classics,  so  as 

1  Gasquet,  Henry   VIII.   and  the  English  Monasteries, 
vol.  II,  pp.  519-520. 

2  Hallam,  Literature  of  Europe,  vol.  I,  p.  196. 


72  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

to  make  it  a  useful  means  of  Christian  education  as 
well  as  of  mental  training. 

Secondly:  The  foregoing  sketch  proves  that  it  is 
false  to  say  :  the  Jesuits  availed  themselves,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Catholic  Church,  of  the  zeal  for  learn- 
ing which  the  Protestants  had  awakened.1  It  can  be 
proved  over  and  above  that  a  great  zeal  for  learning 
had  existed  before  the  Reformation,2  and  that  this 
zeal  was  well-nigh  extinguished  by  this  movement. 
Melanchthon,  Sturm  and  other  reformers  who  worked 
for  the  establishment  of  schools,  had  received  their 
literary  education,  their  zeal  for  learning,  and  the 
greater  part  of  their  educational  principles  from  the 
schools  flourishing  before  the  outbreak  of  the  religious 
revolution.  Their  efforts  were  directed  towards  re- 
establishing what  the  religious  disturbances  had 
destroyed.  Of  course,  we  are  far  from  denying  that 
the  Reformers  introduced  many  improvements  into 
the  Protestant  schools  ;  but  they  and  the  Jesuits  drew 
from  the  same  sources. 

The  preceding  sketch  of  the  condition  of  educa- 
tion previous  to  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus 
may  seem  disproportionately  long.  However,  it  was 
necessary  to  dwell  on  this  point  at  some  length,  in 
order  to  expose  one  of  the  fundamental  errors  concern- 
ing the  origin  of  the  educational  system  of  the  Jesuits. 
It  would  not  have  sufficed  to  make  a  few  general  as- 
sertions—  as  has  been  done  by  some  non-Catholic 
writers  on  the  history  of  education- —  but  it  was  neces- 
sary to  quote  details,  in  order  to  refute  this  erroneous 
view. 

1     See  page  20. 

-     See  the  words  of  Mr.  Einstein,  above  p.  37, 


CHAPTER  III. 
The  Society  of  Jesus.  —  Religious  as  Educators. 

It  is  not  our  task  to  give  a  detailed  history  of 
Ignatius  of  Loyola,  the  Spanish  nobleman  who  was 
wounded  on  the  ramparts  of  Pampeluna,  in  1521, 
nor  of  his  subsequent  conversion  and  life.  This  story 
has  often  been  told  and  may  be  read  in  the  numerous 
biographies  of  the  Saint. l  Nor  need  we  enumerate 
all  the  different  and  contradictory  estimates  of  his 
character,  as  given  by  various  writers.  Macaulay  calls 
him  a  "visionary"  and  an  "enthusiast,  naturally  pas- 
sionate and  imaginative,"  possessed  of  a  "morbid  in- 
tensity and  energy,  a  soldier  and  knight  errant,"  who 
became  "the  soldier  and  knight  errant  of  the  spouse  of 
Christ."2  Canon  Li ttledale,  in  spite  of  his  hostility 
against  the  Society,  cannot  help  admitting  that  Loyola 
possessed  "powerful  gifts  of  intellect  and  an  unusual 
practical  foresight. ' ' 3 

To  see  with  Macaulay  in  Ignatius  a  "visionary," 
is  an  utter  misconception  of  his  character.  Nor  is  it 

1  The  best  for  English  readers  are :  Saint  Ignatius  of 
Loyola,  by  Henri  Joly  (I/ondon,  1899).  Life  of  St.  Igna- 
tius, by  C.  Genelli.  Saint  Ignatius  and  the  Early  Jesuits^  by 
Stewart  Rose. 

Essays:  "Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes." 

3  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (9th  ed.),  article  ' 'Jesuits." 
This  article  teems  with  gross  misrepresentations  of  the  Order, 
and  it  would  take  a  volume  to  refute  the  calumnies  and  the 
ungrounded  insinuations  contained  therein. 

(73) 


74  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

correct  to  style  him  a  "religious  enthusiast."  This 
appellation  could,  at  the  most,  be  applied  to  him  only 
for  the  first  few  years  after  his  conversion.  During 
that  period,  in  a  few  instances,  as  in  the  famous  meet- 
ing with  the  Saracen,  Ignatius  displays  indeed  a 
conduct  singularly  contrasting  with  his  conduct  in 
after-life  and  with  those  wonderfully  wise  rules 
which  he  laid  down  on  the  discernment  of  the  good 
spirit  from  the  evil  one.  In  his  Autobiography  the 
Saint  insists  particularly  on  the  mistakes  into  which 
he  had  fallen  on  the  road  to  mature  judgment  in 
spiritual  matters.1  During  these  first  few  years  fol- 
lowing his  conversion,  Ignatius  gave  manifestation  of 
the  chivalrous  spirit  which  he  had  imbibed  from  his 
early  military  training,  when,  for  instance,  in  the 
Monastery  of  the  Montserrat  he  hung  up  his  sword 
beside  our  Lady's  image,  in  token  that  henceforth 
his  life  was  to  be  one  of  spiritual  warfare  and  spiritual 
knighthood. 

The  Society,  however,  was  not  founded  in  this 
period  of  the  Saint's  life,  but  when  the  youthful  fervor 
was  completely  mastered  by  the  calmest  discretion. 
At  the  time  when  he  drew  up  the  Constitutions  of  the 
Society,  all  his  actions  and  sentiments  were  so  entirely 
under  his  control  that,  although  by  nature  of  an  ardent 
temper,  he  was  commonly  thought  cold  and  phleg- 
matic. In  framing  the  Constitutions  he  proceeded 
with  the  utmost  care  and  circumspection.  On  points 
which  .might  appear  unimportant,  he  deliberated  for 
days,  nay  for  weeks  and  months.  It  was  a  common 

1  See  The  Testament  of  St.  Ignatius.  Introduction  by 
Father  Tyrrell,  S.  J.,  p.  7;  and  notes  on  pp.  60—61,  79—82, 
197  foil. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS.  -REUGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    75 

practice  of  his  to  write  down  the  reasons  for  and 
against  in  parallel  columns,  then  to  weigh  their  force 
and  importance.  After  this  he  consulted  the  Fathers 
who  lived  with  him  in  Rome,  in  order  to  take  their 
advice  as  to  changes  or  additions  which  they  thought 
necessary  or  useful.  Moreover,  he  submitted  the 
results  of  his  painstaking  labors  to  the  judgment  of 
those  Fathers  who  lived  in  various'  parts  of  Europe. 
Surely  in  this  cautiousness  we  see  anything  but  the 
traits  of  a  visionary  or  enthusiast. 

As  early  as  1523  Ignatius  had  conceived  the  idea  of 
his  future  life-work,  although  only  in  general  outlines. 
We  find  this  idea  embodied  in  his  Spiritual  Exercises, 
particularly  in  the  contemplation  on  the  ''Kingdom  of 
Christ."  The  generous  knight,  who  has  renounced 
all  worldly  ambition,  is  resolved  to  become  a  soldier  of 
Christ.  In  Him  he  sees  his  King  and  General  and, 
in  order  to  defend  and  propagate  Christianity,  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ,  he  plans  a  spiritual  crusade. 
Those  who  wish  to  become  his  companions  in  this 
noble  enterprise  must  be  determined  to  distinguish 
themselves  in  the  service  of  their  heavenly  King. 
They  are  not  to  be  satisfied  with  being  ordinary 
soldiers  in  this  army,  but  they  are  to  constitute,  as 
it  were,  Christ's  bodyguard,  hence  the  name  of  the 
Society:  '%a  Compania  de  Jesus,"  the  Company  of 
Jesus.  A  distinguished  Protestant  writer,  Professor 
Harnack  of  Berlin,  has  recently  made  the  f6llowing 
comparison  which  in  some  points  is  not  inappropriate: 
"If  we  assert  and  mean  the  assertion  to  hold  good 
even  of  the  present  time,  that  the  Roman  Church  is 
the  old  Roman  Empire  consecrated  by  the  Gospel,  that 
is  no  mere  'clever  remark,'  but  the  recognition  of  the 


76  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

true  state  of  the  matter  historically,  and  the  most  ap- 
propriate and  fruitful  way  of  describing  the  character 
of  this  Church.  It  still  governs  the  nations  ;  its  Popes 
rule  like  Trajan  and  Marcus  Aurelius  ;  Peter  and  Paul 
have  taken  the  place  of  Romulus  and  Remus  ;  the 
bishops  and  archbishops,  of  the  pro-consuls  ;  the  troops 
of  priests  and  monks  correspond  to  the  legions  ;  the 
Jesuits  to  the  imperial  body-guard. ' ' l 

Ignatius'  first  intention  was  to  convert  the  Turks 
in  Palestine.  So  he  went  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  estab- 
lish a  society  of  apostolic  men  who,  in  the  midst  of  the 
children  of  Mahomet,  should  open  a  way  to  new 
triumphs  of  the  Church.  This  was  without  doubt  a 
noble  conception,  one  which  the  swords  of  Christian 
chivalry  had  not  been  able  to  realize  by  the  efforts 
and  enthusiasm  of  centuries.  It  was  only  after  his 
endeavors  to  gain  a  foothold  near  Our  Lord's  Sepulchre 
had  been  frustrated,  that  Ignatius  gave  his  new  So- 
ciety the  more  general  character  of  defending  the 
*  'Kingdom  of  Christ''  among  all  classes,  in  all  coun- 
tries, and  by  all  legitimate  means.  As  the  object  of  the 
Society  was  purely  spiritual,  not  temporal  or  political, 
so  also  the  means  employed  were  to  be  of  spiritual 
order,  above  all  preaching  and  teaching. 

1  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?  (New  York,  1901), 
I/ecture  XIV,  p.  252. — However,  much  of  what  has  been 
written  about  the  military  character  of  the  Society  is  due  to  a 
misconception.  When  Mr.  Davidson,  in  his  History  of  Edu- 
cation, says  that  "the  Society  of  Jesus  was  a  great  military 
organization,  a  Catholic  Salvation  Army,  with  methods  very 
much  resembling  those  of  its  latest  imitator,"  we  must  call 
this  comparison  absurd.  For  a  greater  difference  than  that 
between  the  methods  of  the  Society  and  those  of  the  Salvation 
Army  is  scarcely  conceivable,  not  to  say  a  word  of  the  vast 
difference  of  their  aims. 


THK  SOCIETY  OF  JKSUS.-RKUGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    77 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  prime  object  of  the 
Society  was  and  is  the  crushing  of  Protestantism.1 
This  assertion  is  proved  to  be  false  by  the  life  of 
Ignatius,  and  this  proof  is  strengthened  by  the  Con- 
stitutions, the  Papal  Approbations,  and  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  Order.  The  Papal  Letters  and  the  Consti- 
tutions assign  as  the  special  object  of  the  Society : 
f  '  'The  progress  of  souls  in  a  good  life  and  knowledge  of 
-  religion  ;  the  propagation  of  faith  by  public  preaching, 
<  the  Spiritual  Kxercises  and  works  of  charity,  and  par- 
ticularly the  instruction  of  youth  and  ignorant  persons 
in  the  Christian  religion. ' ' 2  The  Protestants  are  not 
as  much  as  mentioned  in  this  Papal  document  which 
states  the  end  and  the  means  of  the  Society.  Pius  V. , 
in  1571,  highly  praised  the  educational  work  of  Jesuit 
schools  and  granted  them  ample  privileges.3  Here 
again  it  is  not  said  that  these  schools  or  the  Society  are 
directed  against  Protestantism. 

The  evidence  is  so  strong  that  Professor  Huber,  one 
of  the  bitterest  opponents  of  the  Order,  declares:  "At 
the  time  when  Ignatius  conceived  the  idea  of  found- 
ing a  new  order,  he  had  not  heard  as  much  as  the 
name  of  the  German  Reformer.  Even  more  than  a 
decade  later  he  seems  to  have  paid  little  heed  to  the 

1  "To  resist  the  encroachments  of  Protestantism,  that 
followed  the  diffusion  of  instruction  among  the  people,  Loyola 
organized  his  teaching  corps  of  Catholic  zealots  ;  and  his  mode 
of  competition  for  purposes  of  moral,  sectarian  and  political 
control  has  covered  the  earth  in  all  Christian  countries  with 
institutions  of  learning."  Compayre,  History  of  Pedagogy ', 
p.  163. 

!  In  the  first  approbation  of  the  Institute,  by  the  Brief 
Regimini  militantis  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  September  27,  1540. 
(Cf.  Litterae  Apostolicae,  Florentiae,  1892,  p.  4.) 

3    Litterae  Apostolicae,  1.  c.,  p.  44. 


78  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

religious  movement  in  Europe,  especially  in  Ger- 
many." ]  As  we  said,  it  was  the  intention  of  Ignatius 
to  convert  Palestine.  Frustrated  in  this  plan,  he  chose 
Italy,  Spain  and  Portugal  as  the  field  of  labor  for  him- 
self and  his  companions.  There  he  endeavored  to  re- 
form the  morals  of  the  people  and  to  encourage  the 
practice  of  works  of  charity.2  His  most  powerful  co- 
worker,  Francis  Xavier,  he  sent  to  East  India  ;  to 
Germany,  he  sent  the  first  Jesuit  in  1540,  and  that  only 
at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Imperial  Ambassador.  In 
*555>  one  Year  before  the  death  of  Ignatius,  the  So- 
ciety comprised  eight  provinces  :  Italy  had  two;  Spain, 
three  ;  Portugal,  one  ;  Brazil,  one  ;  India  and  Japan, 
one.  There  was  none  in  Germany,  the  cradle  of  Prot- 
estantism. Of  the  sixty-five  residences  of  the  Order  in 
that  year,  there  were  only  two  in  Germany  :  those  of 
Cologne  and  Vienna.  The  first  colleges  of  the  So- 
ciety were  founded  in  Catholic  countries  :  at  Gandia  in 
Spain,  Messina  in  Sicily,  Goa  in  the  East  Indies. 
Protestant  pupils  were  received  only  by  exception,  and 
in  many  colleges  they  were  not  admitted  at  all.  How, 
then,  can  all  this  be  explained,  if  the  main  object  of 
the  Society  was  the  destruction  of  Protestantism  and 
prosely tism  among  Protestant  students  ? 3 

When  Ignatius  had  decided  to  devote  his  life  "to 
the  greater  glory  of  God"  and  the  salvation  of  souls, 
he  understood  the  necessity  of  higher  learning.  So,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-three,  the  former  gallant  officer  and 
hero  of  Parnpeluna,  was  not  ashamed  to  sit  with 

1  Huber,  DerJesuiten-Orden,  1873,  p.  3. 

2  Huber,  /.  c.,  p.  26. 

3  Oil   this   subject   cf.    Duhr ,     Jesuitenfabeln.      (Jesuit- 
Myths),  Herder,  Freiburg,  and  St.  Louis,  1899,  (3rd  edition), 
pp.  1—28. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -REUGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    79 

children  on  the  school-bench  at  Barcelona,  where  he 
began  to  study  the  rudiments  of  Latin.  After  two 
years  he  went  to  the  university  of  Alcala,  thence  to 
Salamanca,  and  last  to  the  university  of  Paris,  at  that 
time  the  greatest  centre  of  philosophical  and  theo- 
logical learning. 

He  arrived  in  the  French  capital  in  1528.  There 
he  studied  philosophy  and  theology,  and  in  1534,  by  a 
successful  examination,  became  a  Master  of  Arts.  At 
the  University  he  had  won  six  young  men :  Peter 
L,efevre,  a  Savoyard  ;  Francis  Xavier,  a  Navarrese ; 
the  three  Spaniards,  James  Lainez,  Alphonsus  Sal- 
meron,  and  Nicholas  Bobadilla,  and  Simon  Rodriguez, 
a  Portuguese.  On  August  15,  1534,  the  little  band 
repaired  to  the  church  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  Mont- 
martre  in  Paris,  and  bound  themselves  by  a  vow  to 
the  service  of  God.  This  was  the  birthday  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus.  The  new  Order  received  the  papal 
sanction  from  Paul  III.,  on  September  27,  1540. 

The  aim  of  the  Society  is  expressed  by  its  motto  : 
Omnia  ad  majorem  Dei  gloriam — All  for  God's  greater 
glory.  Hence  it  is  the  duty  of  the  members  to  labor 
with  the  same  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  others  as  for 
their  own  perfection.  The  salvation  of  their  neighbor 
they  accomplish  by  conducting  the  spiritual  exercises, 
preaching  missions  to  the  faithful,  and  evangelizing 
the  heathen  ;  by  hearing  confessions  ;  by  defending 
the  faith  against  heretics  and  infidels  through  their 
writings ;  by  leaching  catechism  to  children  and  the 
ignorant;  by  lecturing  on  philosophy  and  theology  in  the 
universities;  by  instructing  youth  in  grammar  schools  and 
colleges.  Although  various  occupations  are  here  men- 
tioned, yet,  as  Professor  Paulsen  rightly  observes, 


82  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

However,  there  are  many  enlightened  and  scholarly 
non-Catholics  who  do  not  share  these  opinions.  Care- 
ful historical  research  revealed  that  the  monks  were 
not  lazy  drones,  but  that  they  were  the  civilizers  of 
Europe  and  the  preservers  of  ancient  literature.  Then 
it  was  admitted  that  they  were  not  all  hypocritical 
debauchees.  Thus,  in  a  recent  work  of  an  American 
scholar,2  we  find,  after  the  description  of  the  monastic 
principles  and  ideals,  the  following  statement :  ''The 
ideal  monastic  character  was  that  which  corresponded 
to  these  principles.  And  in  hundreds  of  instances  a 
personality  with  such  a  character  did  result ;  a  person- 
ality when  directing  faultless  in  humility  and  obedience 
to  God,  faultness  in  humility  and  obedience  when 
obeying ;  knowing  neither  pride  nor  vanity,  nor  cov- 
etousness  nor  lust,  nor  slothful  depression  ;  grave  and 
silent  with  bent  head,  yet  with  an  inner  peace,  even  an 
inner  passionate  joy  ;  meditative,  mystic,  an  other- 
world  personality ;  one  that  dwells  in  spiritual  facts, 

writings  of  many  humanists  exhibit  a  licentiousness  which 
would  have  made  most  religious  throw  these  books  aside  with 
utter  disgust.  Some  Protestant  critics  severely  blamed  the 
Berlin  Professor  for  this  defence  of  the  outlawed  monks. 
Professor  Ziegler  even  accused  him  that,  in  alliance  with 
Janssen  and  Denifle,  he  endeavored  to  restore  the  old  Catholic 
fable  convenue.  Professor  Paulseu  answers  this  charge  of  his 
co-religionists  by  saying  that  he  is  entirely  free  from  any  such 
tendency.  "I  do  not  want  to  restore  or  maintain  any  fables, 
neither  Catholic  nor  Protestant ;  but  I  wish,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  see  things  as  they  are.  It  is  true,  this  endeavor  has  led 
me  to  doubt  whether  the  renaissance  and  its  apostles  deserve 
all  the  esteem,  and  the  representatives  of  medieval  education 
all  the  contempt  which,  up  to  this  day,  has  been  bestowed  on 
them."  Z.  c.y  vol.  I,  p.  89. 

2    Taylor,    The  Classical  Heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
(New  York,  Macmillan  1900),  p.  182. 


3  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -KELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    83 

for  whom  this  world  has  passed  away  and  the  lusts 
thereof ;  one  that  is  centered  in  God  and  in  eternal 
life,  and  yet  capable  of  intense  activities  ;  a  man  who 
will  not  swerve  from  orders  received,  as  he  swerves  not 
from  his  great  aim,  the  love  of  God  and  eternal  life." 
And  the  Protestant  Professor  Harnack  declares  that 
even  to-day  the  Roman  Church  *  'possesses  in  its'  orders 
of  monkhood  and  its  religious  societies,  a  deep  element 
of  life  in  its  midst.  In  all  ages  it  has  produced  saints, 
so  far  as  men  can  be  so  called,  and  it  still  produces 
them  to-day.  Trust  in  God,  unaffected  humility,  the 
assurance  of  redemption,  the  devotion  of  one's  life  to 
the  service  of  one's  brethren,  are  to  be  found  in  it; 
many  brethren  take  up  the  cross  of  Christ  and  exercise 
at  one  and  the  same  time  that  self -judgment  and  that 
joy  in  God  which  Paul  and  Augustine  achieved.  The 
Imitatio  Christi  kindles  independent  religious  life  and 
a  fire  which  burns  with  a  flame  of  its  own. ' ' l 

A  still  more  remarkable  reaction  seems  of  late  to 
take  place  in  the  minds  of  Protestant  writers,  concern- 
ing the  origin  and  nature  of  "monasticism".  After 
various  attempts  had  been  made  to  explain  the  rise  of 
monasticism  from  Essene,  Brahman,  or  Buddhist  in- 
fluence, not  a  few  Protestants  admit  now  that  it  logic- 
ally, and,  as  it  were,  naturally,  arose  from  Christianity. 
"Monasticism",  says  Mr.  Taylor,  "arose  from  within 
Christianity,  not  from  without. "  2  Professor  Harnack 
even  regrets  it  that  the  Reformation  has  abolished 
monasticism  within  the  Kvangelical  Church.  The 
words  of  this  leader  among  rationalistic  Protestants 
deserve  to  be  quoted.  After  having  pictured  the 

1  What  is  Christianity?,  p.  266. 

2  The  Classical  Heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  142. 


84  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

achievements  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  he  asks 
what  it  has  cost.  Among  other  ''high  prices"  which 
the  Reformation  had  to  pay,  he  enumerates  monasti- 
cism.  When  the  Reformation  abolished  monasticism, 
'  'something  happened  which  Luther  neither  foresaw 
nor  desired  :  monasticism,  of  the  kind  that  is  con- 
ceivable and  necessary  in  the  evangelical  sense  of  the 
word,  disappeared  altogether.  But  every  community 
stands  in  need  of  personalities  living  exclusively  for  its 
ends.  The  Church,  for  instance,  needs  volunteers 
who  will  abandon  every  other  pursuit,  renounce  the 
*  world',  and  devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  service 
of  their  neighbor;  not  because  such  a  vocation  is  a 
'higher  one',  but  because  it  is  a  necessary  one,  and 
because  no  church  can  live  without  also  giving  rise  to 
such  a  desire.  But  in  the  evangelical  churches  the 
desire  has  been  checked  by  the  decided  attitude  which 
they  have  been  compelled  to  adopt  towards  Catholi- 
cism. It  is  a  high  price  that  we  have  paid ;  nor  can 
the  price  be  reduced  by  considering,  on  the  other  hand, 
how  much  simple  and  unaffected  religious  fervor  has 
been  kindled  in  home  and  family  life.  We  may  re- 
joice, however,  that  in  the  past  century  a  beginning 
has  been  made  in  the  direction  of  recouping  this  loss. 
In  the  institution  of  deaconesses  and  many  cognate 
phenomena  the  evangelical  churches  are  getting  back 
what  they  once  ejected  through  their  inability  to 
recognize  it  in  the  form  which  it  then  took.  But  it 
must  undergo  a  much  ampler  and  more  varied  devel- 
opment. ' ' 1 

One  of  the  "ends"  of  the  Church  is  education.     It 
is  natural,  then,  that  there  should  be  personalities  who 

1     What  is  Christianity?,  p.  288. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    85 

live  exclusively  for  this  end,  or,  at  least,  devote  them- 
selves in  a  special  manner  to  this  work.  In  fact,  from 
the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  we  find  that  religious 
took  a  special  interest  in  the  education  of  youth.  The 
celebrated  historian  Dr.  Neander  of  Berlin,  who  can 
not  be  accused  of  any  undue  leaning  towards  Catholi- 
cism, praises  the  early  monks  for  their  labor  in  this 
direction.  He  points  out  that  the  duties  of  education 
were  particularly  recommended  to  the  monks  of  St. 
Basil.  They  were  enjoined  to  take  upon  themselves 
voluntarily  the  education  of  orphans,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  other  youths  when  entrusted  to  them  by  their 
parents.  It  was  by  no  means  necessary  that  these 
children  should  become  monks ;  they  were  early  in- 
structed in  some  trade  or  art,  and  were  afterwards  at 
liberty  to  make  a  free  choice  of  their  vocation.1 

St.  John  Chrysostom  most  earnestly  recommended 
to  parents  to  employ  the  monks  as  instructors  to  their 
sons ;  to  have  their  sons  educated  in  monasteries,  at 
a  distance  from  the  corruption  of  the  world,  where 
they  might  early  be  made  acquainted  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  be  brought  up  in  "Christian  habits,  and 
where  the  foundation  of  a  true  Christian  character  might 
be  laid,  the  fruits  of  which  would  afterwards  manifest 
themselves  in  every  station  and  circumstance  of  life. 
Dr.  Neander  thus  comments  on  the  appeals  of  St. 
Chrysostom:  "Where  men  truly  enlightened  were 
'to  be  found  among  the  monks,  as  was  often  the  case, 
the  advice  of  St.  Chrysostom  was  undoubtedly  correct; 
and  even  where  too  great  attention  to  outward  forms, 

1  The  Life  of  St.  Chrysostom,  by  Dr.  Neander.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Stapleton,  London 
1845,  p.  92. 


84  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

achievements  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  he  asks 
what  it  has  cost.  Among  other  "high  prices"  which 
the  Reformation  had  to  pay,  he  enumerates  monasti- 
cism.  When  the  Reformation  abolished  monasticism, 
"something  happened  which  Luther  neither  foresaw 
nor  desired  :  monasticism,  of  the  kind  that  is  con- 
ceivable and  necessary  in  the  evangelical  sense  of  the 
word,  disappeared  altogether.  But  every  community 
stands  in  need  of  personalities  living  exclusively  for  its 
ends.  The  Church,  for  instance,  needs  volunteers 
who  will  abandon  every  other  pursuit,  renounce  the 
'world',  and  devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  service 
of  their  neighbor ;  not  because  such  a  vocation  is  a 
'higher  one',  but  because  it  is  a  necessary  one,  and 
because  no  church  can  live  without  also  giving  rise  to 
such  a  desire.  But  in  the  evangelical  churches  the 
desire  has  been  checked  by  the  decided  attitude  which 
they  have  been  compelled  to  adopt  towards  Catholi- 
cism. It  is  a  high  price  that  we  have  paid ;  nor  can 
the  price  be  reduced  by  considering,  on  the  other  hand, 
how  much  simple  and  unaffected  religious  fervor  has 
been  kindled  in  home  and  family  life.  We  may  re- 
joice, however,  that  in  the  past  century  a  beginning 
has  been  made  in  the  direction  of  recouping  this  loss. 
In  the  institution  of  deaconesses  and  many  cognate 
phenomena  the  evangelical  churches  are  getting  back 
what  they  once  ejected  through  their  inability  to 
recognize  it  in  the  form  which  it  then  took.  But  it 
must  undergo  a  much  ampler  and  more  varied  devel- 
opment. ' ' l 

One  of  the  "ends"  of  the  Church  is  education.     It 
is  natural,  then,  that  there  should  be  personalities  who 

1     What  is  Christianity?,  p.  288. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -REUGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    85 

live  exclusively  for  this  end,  or,  at  least,  devote  them- 
selves in  a  special  manner  to  this  work.  In  fact,  from 
the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  we  find  that  religious 
took  a  special  interest  in  the  education  of  youth.  The 
celebrated  historian  Dr.  Neander  of  Berlin,  who  can 
not  be  accused  of  any  undue  leaning  towards  Catholi- 
cism, praises  the  early  monks  for  their  labor  in  this 
direction.  He  points  out  that  the  duties  of  education 
were  particularly  recommended  to  the  monks  of  St. 
Basil.  They  were  enjoined  to  take  upon  themselves 
voluntarily  the  education  of  orphans,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  other  youths  when  entrusted  to  them  by  their 
parents.  It  was  by  no  means  necessary  that  these 
children  should  become  monks ;  they  were  early  in- 
structed in  some  trade  or  art,  and  were  afterwards  at 
liberty  to  make  a  free  choice  of  their  vocation.1 

St.  John  Chrysostom  most  earnestly  recommended 
to  parents  to  employ  the  monks  as  instructors  to  their 
sons;  to  have  their  sons  educated  in  monasteries,  at 
a  distance  from  the  corruption  of  the  world,  where 
they  might  early  be  made  acquainted  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  be  brought  up  in  'Christian  habits,  and 
where  the  foundation  of  a  true  Christian  character  might 
be  laid,  the  fruits  of  which  would  afterwards  manifest 
themselves  in  every  station  and  circumstance  of  life. 
Dr.  Neander  thus  comments  on  the  appeals  of  St. 
Chrysostom:  "Where  men  truly  enlightened  were 
'to  be  found  among  the  monks,  as  was  often  the  case, 
the  advice  of  St.  Chrysostom  was  undoubtedly  correct; 
and  even  where  too  great  attention  to  outward  forms, 

1  The  Life  of  St.  Chrysostom,  by  Dr.  Neander.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Stapleton,  London 
1845,  p.  92. 


86  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  too  little  of  an  evangelical  spirit  prevailed,  educa- 
tion among  them  was  more  desirable  than  in  corrupted 
families,  or  the  schools  of  the  sophists,  in  which  van- 
ity and  ostentation  were  in  every  way  encouraged. ' ' l 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  state  that  other  religious 
orders  before  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
especially  the  Benedictines  and  the  Dominicans,  had 
rendered  inestimable  service  to  the  cause  of  Christian 
education.  Cardinal  Newman  compares  the  educa- 
tional work  of  these  three  orders  in  the  following 
terms:-  "As  the  physical  universe  is  sustained  and 
carried  on  in  dependence  on  certain  centres  of  power 
and  laws  of  operation,  so  the  course  of  the  social  and 
political  world,  and  of  that  great  religious  organiza- 
tion called  the  Catholic  Church,  is  found  to  proceed 
for  the  most  part  from  the  presence  or  action  of  definite 
persons,  places,  events,  and  institutions,  as  the  visible 
cause  of  the  whole.  .  .  .  Education  follows  the  same 
la.w:  it  has  its  history  in  Christianity,  and  its  doctors 
or  masters  in  that  history.  It  has  had  three  periods  : 
the  ancient,  the  medieval,  and  the  modern  ;  and  there 
are  three  religious  orders  in  those  periods  respectively 
which  succeed,  one  the  other,  on  its  public  stage,  and 
represent  the  teaching  given  by  the  Catholic  Church 
during  the  time  of  their  ascendancy.  The  first  period 
is  that  long  series  of  centuries,  during  which  society 
was  breaking,  or  had  broken  up,  and  then  slowly 
attempted  its  own  reconstruction  ;  the  second  may  be 
called  the  period  of  reconstruction ;  and  the  third 
dates  from  the  Reformation,  when  that  peculiar  move- 
ment of  mind  commenced,  the  issue  of  which  is  still 
to  come.  Now,  St.  Benedict  has  had  the  training  of 

1    Ibid.,  p.  37. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS, -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS,    87 

the  ancient  intellect,  St.  Dominic  of  the  medieval,  and 
St.  Ignatius  of  the  modern.  .  .  .  Ignatius,  a  man  of 
the  world  before  his  conversion,  transmitted  as  a  legacy 
to  his  disciples  that  knowledge  of  mankind  which 
cannot  be  learned  in  cloisters. ' ' l 

However,  none  of  the  religious  orders  of  the  Middle 
Ages  had  taken  the  education  of  youth  formally  and 
expressly  into  its  constitution.  As  regards  the  Bene- 
dictines, Cardinal  Newman  maintains  that  their  occu- 
pation with  literary  and  historical  studies  was,  in  a 
way,  a  compromise  with  the  primary  end  of  their  in- 
stitute. The  monastic  institute,  as  the  great  Benedic- 
tine scholar  Mabillon  says,  demands  summa  quies,  the 
most  perfect  quietness.  Hence  the  studies  which  they 
pursued  with  special  predilection,  were  such  as  did  not 
excite  the  mind  :  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture  and  the 
Fathers,  the  examination  of  ancient  manuscripts,  edi- 
tions and  biographies  of  the  Fathers,  studies  which 
can  be  undergone  in  silence  and  quietness. 2  So  was 
also  the  educational  work  which  they  undertook  acci- 
dental to  the  primary  object  of  their  institute.  The 
Order  of  St.  Dominic  had  a  much  closer,  a  more  direct 
and  explicit  connection  with  studies  and  teaching. 
But  it  was  chiefly  the  teaching  of  the  highest  branches, 
of  theology,  the  "science  of  sciences",  and  of  philo- 
sophy, which  this  order  undertook.  What  we  now 
understand  by  *  'education"  was  only  remotely  included 
in  the  object  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic. 

St.  Ignatius  was  the  first  to  assume  the  education 
of  youth  as  a  special  part  of  the  work  of  a  religious 
order,  as  a  special  ministry,  a  special  means  of  ob- 

1  Historical  Sketches,  vol.  II,  pp.  365-366. 

2  Newman,  Historical  Sketches,  vol.  II,  pp.  420-26;  452. 


88  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

taining  the  end  of  his  Society  :  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  souls.  "We  can,"  says  Cicero,  "do 
no  greater  or  better  service  to  the  commonwealth  than 
to  teach  and  instruct  youth. ' '  St.  Ignatius  knew  this 
full  well,  he  also  knew  that  it  applied  to  the  super- 
natural commonwealth,  the  City  of  Goa,  the  Church 
of  Christ. 

In  opposition  to  the  pagan  ideas  of  the  radical 
school  of  the  humanists,  he  deemed  it  absolutely 
necessary  that  all  efforts  should  be  made  to  instil  the 
principles  of  the  true  religion,  together  with  useful 
knowledge,  into  the  minds  of  boys ;  for  as  the  Wise 
Man  says:  "A  young  man,  according  to  his  way, 
even  when  he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 
(Prov.,  22,  6.)  —  "Hence",  as  the  Jesuit  theologian 
Suarez  says :  "God  raised  up  St.  Ignatius,  and  gave 
to  him  this  mind  and  counsel,  without  the  motive  and 
example  of  other  religious  orders,  and  it  has  been 
approved  by  the  authority  of  His  Vicar. ' ' 1 

This  measure  of  St.  Ignatius  in  taking  the  educa- 
tion of  youth  as  a  fundamental  part  into  his  order, 
marks  an  important  epoch  in  the  history  of  Catholic 
education.  After  the  time  of  St.  Ignatius  other  re- 
ligious congregations  were  founded  with  the  special 
object  of  undertaking  the  education  of  the  young  ;  we 
mention  only  the  Christian  Brothers,  founded  by  Saint 
de  L,a  Salle,  and  the  Piarists.  For  the  education  of 
women  there  are  numerous  congregations  of  sisters, 
which  exclusively  or  primarily  are  engaged  in  impart- 
ing a  refined  and  thoroughly  Christian  education. 

1  De  Religione  Societatis  Jesu.  —  See  the  digest  of  the 
work  in  The  Religious  State,  by  W.  Humphrey,  VS.  J., 
vol.  Ill,  p.  167. 


TH£  SOCIETY  OF  JKSUS, -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.     89 

y 

Of  late  the  educational  work  of  religious  orders 
has  frequently  been  objected  to,  even  by  some  who 
call  themselves  Catholics.  But  in  spite  of  all  that  has 
been  said  to  the  contrary,  the  care  which  religious 
orders  take  of  education  is  a  source  of  blessings  for  the 
pupils,  the  family,  and  the  whole  community.  Re- 
ligious, above  all,  try  to  impart  a  religious,  a  Christian 
education.  How  useful,  how  absolutely  necessary  this 
is  for  society  as  well  as  for  the  individual  pupil,  need 
not  be  discussed.  Further,  in  the  case  of  religious 
teachers  a  guarantee  is  given  that  persons  of  noble 
character  and  high  aspirations  devote  their  whole  lives 
to  the  cause  of  education.  Must  we  not  expect  that 
such  teachers  will  obtain  most  satisfactory  results  in 
their  work?  At  all  events,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
educational  labors  of  the  Society  were  crowned  with 
success. 

Protestant  historians,  as  Ranke,  Paulsen,  and 
others,  admit  that  the  Jesuit  schools  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  were  far  more  successful 
than  their  Protestant  rivals.  Whence  the  difference  ? 
Ranke  finds  it  in  the  exactness  and  nicety  of  the  meth- 
ods of  the  Society.  This  was  undoubtedly  one  cause 
of  their  greater 'success.  Still  it  is  more  probable  that 
the  chief  reason  is  to  be  sought  in  the  teachers  them- 
selves. The  teachers  in  the  Jesuit  colleges  were,  on 
the  whole,  better  fitted  for  their  work  than  were  most 
other  teachers.  It  is  not  difficult  to  prove  this  asser- 
tion. The  social  position  of  teachers  was,  during 
these  centuries,  a  most  undesirable  one.1  The  salaries 

Many  interesting  details  on  this  subject  have  been 
published  in  a  recent  book  by  Reicke,  Lehrer  und  Unterrichts- 
wesen  in  der  deutschen  Vergangenheit,  I/eipzig,  Diederichs, 


90  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

were  so  miserable  that  the  teachers,  to  support  them- 
selves and  their  families,  had  to  practise  some  other 
profession  or  trade.  Professor  Paulsen  states  that  in 
Saxony,  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  one  schoolmaster  of  a  small  town  was  regularly 
organist,  town-clerk  and  sexton.1  The  village  school- 
masters were  mostly  sextons,  field-guards,  or  tailors. 
As  late  as  1738,  an  order  was  issued  in  Prussia  to  the 
effect  that  in  the  country"  there  should  be  no  other 
tailors  besides  the  sextons  and  schoolmasters,  and  later 
on  Frederick  the  Great  declared:  "tailors  are  bad 
schoolmasters,"  and  so  he  preferred  to  make  teachers 
out  of  old  soldiers,  invalid  corporals,  and  sergeants. 
The  position  of  teachers  in  the  higher  schools  was  not 
much  more  enticing.  They  had  to  obtain  some  addi- 
tion to  their  scanty  salaries  by  a  sort  of  genteel  beg- 
gary :  by  dedicating  books  or  orations  to  influential 
persons,  by  writing  poems  for  weddings  or  similar 
occasions.  Teachers  were  always  far  worse  off  than 
.lawyers  or  physicians.  It  was  always  a  true  saying, 
but  especially  in  those  times  : 

Dat  Galenus  opes,  dat  Justinianus  /wnores, 
Sed  genus  et  species  cogitur  ire  pedes> 

which  may  be  freely  rendered : 

The  doctor's  purse  old  Galen  fills, 
Justinian  lifts  the  esquire  on  high, 
But  he  that  treads  in  grammar-mills, 
Will  tread  it  on  until  he  die. 

The  famous  rector  of  the  school  of  I  If  eld,  Neander, 

1901.  Summary  in  Neue  Jahrbucher  fur  das  klassische 
Altertum,  1902,  vol.  X,  pp.  295— 296.  —  See  also  Paulsen, 
Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  (2nd  ed.),  vol.  I,  pp. 
326-333;  362. 

1    L.  c.,  p.  296. 


THE  SOCIETY  £F  JESUS, -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    91 

was  told  one  day  by  his  former  colleague  of  Schul- 
pforta,  Gigas,  who  had  retired  to  a  parish  :  "You 
should  have  had  yourself  flayed  alive  rather  than  stay 
so  many  years  with  the  wicked  and  devilish  youths 
of  to-day. "  And  Schekkius,  who  died  in  1704,  had 
the  following  inscription  painted  on  the  wall  of  the 
Gymnasium  in  Hildesheim : 

"Quis  miser  est  ?     Vere  miseros  si  dixeris  ullos. 
Hi  stint,  qui  pueros  betha  vel  alpha  docent. 

The  schoolmasters  have  horses1  and  asses'  labor  ; 
they  have  to  swallow  much  dust,  stench  and  smoke  to 
boot ;  discomfort,  calumnies,  and  sundry  troubles, 
with  ingratitude  in  fine  laborum." 

We  cannot  wonder  that  the  desudare  in  pulvere 
scholastico  was  not  considered  a  desirable  profession, 
and  that  the  school  career  was  sought  only  as  a  trans- 
itory occupation,  which  was  abandoned  as  soon  as  a 
good  parsonage  was  offered.  Others  again  entered 
upon  this  career  because,  for  lack  of  talent  or  other 
qualities,  they  could  not  expect  to  succeed  in  the  min- 
istry. l  The  changes  among  the  teachers,  in  Saxony 
and  elsewhere,  were  exceedingly  frequent.  It  was  very 
common  among  Protestant  theologians  to  teach  for 
one  year,  or  at  the  most  two  years,  and  then  to  retire 
to  a  parish.2 

What  do  we  find  among  the  Jesuits  ?  The  most 
talented  youths  entered  their  ranks,  and  after  a  long 
and  solid  training  many  taught  in  the  colleges  their 
whole  lives,  others  for  at  least  five  or  more  years. 
They  had  not  to  worry  about  their  livelihood,  as  the 
Order  provided  all  they  needed.  So  they  could  devote 

1  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gel.   Unt.,  I.  c.>  p.  327. 

2  Ib.,  p.  296. 


92  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

themselves,  all  their  time  and  strength,  to  the  work  of 
education.1  But  this  was  possible  only  because  they 
had  joined  a  religious  order,  which  had  taken  up  the 
education  of  youth  as  one  of  its  special  ministries. 
I  have  never  found  that  any  writers  who  discuss  the 
causes  of  the  superiority  of  the  Jesuit  schools  have 
taken  this  fact  into  account.  And  yet  it  was  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  most  important  reasons  of  the 
great  success  of  the  colleges  of  the  Society. 

But  may  not  even  at  the  present  day  religious  most 
beneficially  be  employed  as  educators  of  Catholic 
youth  ?  Will  not  their  state  of  life  secure  some  ad- 
vantages for  the  work  of  education  ?  It  has  repeatedly 
been  stated  by  non- Catholic  writers  that  the  schools 
of  the  teaching  congregations  in  France  were  far  more 
successful  than  the  lay  schools.2  What  is  the  ex- 
planation of  this  fact,  so  unwelcome  to  those  who  have 
to  admit  it?  A  recent  article  in  an  American  mag- 
azine may  help  us  to  find  a  very  plausible  explanation. 
Professor  Miinsterberg  of  Harvard  writes3:  "The 

1  Prof  essorPaulsen  states  that  the  Jesuit  teachers  changed 
also    rather  frequently ;    but    every   Jesuit    had  to  teach  at 
least  four  or  five  years  after  the  completion  of  his  philosoph- 
ical course,  and  very  many  returned  to  the  colleges  after  their 
theological  studies.     Hence  there  was   incomparably  more 
stability  in  Jesuit  colleges  than  in  most  Protestant  schools  of 
those  times. 

2  See  for  instance  the   Contemporary  Review,   March, 
1900,  p.  441,  where  it  is  plainly  stated  by  a  writer  most  hostile 
to  the  religious  orders,  that  the  ' 'religious  teachers  do  their 
work  efficiently  and  successfully,  their  rivals  with  a  degree 
of  slovenliness  which  is  incredible.'*    See  further  testimonies 
below,  chapter  VII. 

3  Atlantic  Monthly,  May  1901,   p.  628.      However,  this 
feature  is  not  confined  to  American  schools.     Within  the  last 
few  years  serious  complaints  begin  to  be  heard  also  in  Ger- 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS, -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    93 

greater  number  of  those  who  devote  themselves  to 
higher  teaching  in  America  are  young  men  without 
means,  too  often  without  breeding ;  and  yet  that 
would  be  easily  compensated  for,  if  they  were  men  of 
the  best  minds,  but  they  are  not.  They  are  mostly 
men  of  a  passive,  almost  indifferent  sort  of  mind, 
without  intellectual  energy,  men  who  see  in  the  aca- 
demic career  a  modest  safe  path  of  life  ....  while  our 
best  young  men  must  rush  to  law,  and  banking,  and 
what  not, ' '  and  all  this  because  the  salaries  are  not 
high  enough. l  It  is  not  our  task  to  investigate  or 

many.  There  is  even  a  serious  danger  apprehended  for  the 
higher  schools.  The  commercial  spirit  has  invaded  Germany, 
and  young  men  are  not  anxious  to  enter  on  a  career  which  is 
perhaps  the  most  fatiguing  of  all  and  offers  the  fewest  chances 
for  advancement.  See  Dr.  Wermbter,  Die  hohere  Schullauf- 
bahn  in  Preussen,  1901;  Dr.  Schroder:  Periculum  in  Mora, 
1901.  —  Of  the  French  teachers  M.  Breal,  Professor  of  the 
College  de  France,  said  as  early  as  1879:  "Les  maitres  d'etudes 
sont,  g^neralement,  des  jeunes  gens  qui  acceptent  de  fati- 
gantes  et  difficiles  fonctions  pour  avoir  le  loisir  de  se  preparer 
&  un  emploi  plus  releve",  .  .  .  personnes  sans  experience  peda- 
gogique,  dont  la  pensee  et  1'activite  sont  tournees  vers  les 
examens  qui  les  attendent.  .  .  Je  ne  crains  pas  d'etre  contre- 
dit  si  j'affirine  que  1'autorite  leur  manque  pour  §tre  les 
educateurs  que  nous  cherchons."  Du  Lac,  Je  suite s>  p.  280. 

1  Political  influence  has  repeatedly  been  pointed  out  as 
another  cause  that  deters  able  men  in  this  covntry  from  school 
work.  "It  seems  to  be  true  that  high  schools  have  not  been 
able  to  attract  the  best  men  into  their  service,  because  ap-  . 
pointments  in  them  must  be  sought  usually  through  avenues 
of  political  influence."  Educational  Review,  May,  1902, 
p.  506.  See  also  President  Draper,  in  Education  in  the 
United  States,  vol.  I,  pp.  13,  16,  29;  and  Mr.  Anderson's 
article  "Politics  in  the  Public  Schools,"  Atlantic  Monthly, 
>ril,  1901. 


94  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

defend  the  correctness  of  these  statements,  which  un- 
questionably contain  a  great  deal  of  truth. 

What  do  we  find  in  religious  orders?  No  doubt, 
the  type  of  mind  described  in  the  preceding  lines  is  to 
be  met  with  among  them ;  but  in  schools,  conducted 
by  religious,  men  are  teaching  who  are  "of  the  best 
minds",  sometimes  also  men  who  belong  to  the  best 
Catholic  families  in  the  land.  The  Jesuits,  in  partic- 
ular, have  even  been  charged  with  drawing  the  finest 
talents  and  the  sons  of  the  most  distinguished  families 
to  their  Order.  If  this  were  true,  these  talents  would 
not  be  lost  to  society.  For  they  are  working  for  the 
noblest  cause,  the  education  of  the  young.  Their  state 
of  life  made  firm  and  lasting  by  sacred  vows,  frees 
them  from  family  cares  and  family  troubles,  and  per- 
mits them  to  devote  all  their  time  and  energy  to  edu- 
cation. The  Jesuit  is  prevented  from  seeking  earthly 
remuneration,  consequently,  no  "better  chance",  no 
higher  salary  offered  by  other  occupations,  will  entice 
him  to  forsake  his  arduous  but  sublime  task. 

In  the  year  1879,  at  the  time  of  violent  agitations 
against  the  Jesuit  colleges  in  France,  a  writer  in  the 
Paris  Figaro  called  attention  to  the  fact  how  little  a 
Jesuit  teacher  needed.  In  the  provinces,  a  Jesuit 
teacher  costs  one  thousand  francs,  in  Paris,  a  little 
more,  and  this  is  for  board,  clothes,  etc.  Going  from 
one  college  to  another,  he  takes  with  him  his  crucifix, 
his  breviary,  and  the  clothes  which  he  wears  on  his 
body,  his  manuscripts,  if  he  has  any,  and  that  is  all. 
And  yet,  as  the  same  writer  points  out,  among  these 
truly  poor  men,  among  these  volunteers  to  the  noble 
cause  of  education,  are  men  who  are  the  sons  of  mil- 
lionaires, others  who  have  received  the  badge  of  the 


SOCIKTY  OF  JKSUS. -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    95 

"L,egion  of  Honor",  others  who  had  been  awarded 
this  distinction  before  they  became  Jesuits ;  there  are 
among  them  men  who  had  been  able  officers  in  the 
army  or  navy.  Indeed,  these  men  must  see  in  the 
education  of  youth  something  more  than  an  occupation 
for  gaining  a  livelihood. 

In  this  country  the  instability  of  teachers  has  more 
than  once  formed  the  subject  of  complaints.  "In 
Maine,1  some  time  ago,  four  years  was  found  to  be  the 
average  time  of  service.  The  report  of  1892  on  the 
high  schools  of  Washington  (D.  C.)  remarks  that, 
with  few  exceptions,  all  professionally  prepared  teachers 
who  had  occupied  their  positions  four  years  ago  had 
resigned  to  enter  more  lucrative  positions.  Better 
opportunities  are  offered  not  only  to  male  but  to  female 
teachers,  who  also  give  up  their  positions  to  enter 
upon  married  life.  Even  well-to-do  American  women, 
generally  highly  educated,  well  informed,  and  at  the 
same  time  enterprising,  prefer  to  spend  a  few  years  in 
teaching  rather  than  await  their  future  inactively. 
The  official  report  condenses  all  this  in  the  mournful 
remark:  In  the  United  States  the  profession  of  teach- 
ing seems  to  be  a  kind  of  waiting-room  in  which  the 
young  girl  awaits  a  congenial,  ulterior  support,  and 
the  young  man  a  more  advantageous  position. '  "  2 

It  is  evident  that  teaching  must  suffer  from  such 
instability.  No  professional  skill  is  possible  in  the 
majority  of  teachers;  experience  and  steadfastness,  two 

1  In  Illinois  and  other  states  the  same  has  been  proved. 
Mr.  McBurney  wrote  quite  recently  in  the  Ohio  Teacher  that 
the  average  life  of  the  country  teacher  is  not  over  three  years. 
See  The  Review,  St.  Louis,  October  2,  1902,  p.  601. 

2  Report  of  the  Com.  of  Education,  1892—93,  vol.  I,  p. 
545 ;  see  also  pp.  565  and  586. 


96  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

important  elements  in  education,  are  lacking.  This 
latter  point  may  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison  drawn 
between  the  Catholic  Sister  and  the  Protestant  Deacon- 
ess. The  comparison  has  been  drawn  by  a  Protes- 
tant lady  in  Germany,  Frau  Elisabeth  Gnauck-Kuhne, 
who  for  many  years  was  prominent  in  works  of  Chris- 
tian charity.  She  says:1  "The  Catholic  Sister  has 
made  a  binding  vow,  she  has  burnt  the  ships  behind 
her;  earthly  cares,  earthly  pleasures  she  knows  no 
more,  her  conversation  is  in  heaven.  It  is  the  same 
to  her  whither  she  goes,  whom  she  attends,  poor  or 
rich,  old  or  young,  high  or  low,  all  these  circumstan- 
ces are  immaterial;  for  she  has  balanced  her  account 
with  the  life  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  she  does  nothing 
by  halves.  The  Evangelical  Deaconess  in  theory 
stands  in  a  different  position.  Her  church  demands 
of  her  no  oath  of  renunciation,  she  has  not  destroyed 
the  bridge,  she  may  at  any  moment  return  to  the  flesh- 
pots  of  Egypt,  especially  when  a  man  wants  her  for 
his  wife.  Then  the  motives  which  have  led  her  to  the 
service  of  the  sick  will  hold  no  longer;  then  the  needs, 
which,  as  far  as  lay  in  her,  she  wished  to  remedy, 
must  continue  to  exist,  she  doffs  the  severe  garb  and 
decks  herself  with  the  orange-blossoms.  Such  being 
the  case,  is  it  not  most  natural  that  she  yields  more 
easily  to  the  temptation  of  having  one  eye  on  her 
vocation,  the  other  on  the  world?  What  is  excluded 
in  the  case  of  the  Catholic  Sister,  the  desertion  of  her 
vocation  and  marriage,  are  possible  for  her,  and  why 
should  she  not  find  the  possibility  desirable  ?  If,  in 
addition,  the  wish  is  father  to  the  thought,  there  arises 

1    From  the   Protestant   Tdgliche  Rundschau  of  Berlin, 
Sept.  28,  1899. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS.  -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    97 

consciously  or  unconsciously,  that  disposition  which 
has  been  felt  as  a  'tinge  of  worldliness. '  But  it  would 
be  unfair  to  blame  the  Deaconess.  Protestantism 
with  irresistible  consistency  must  produce  the  described 
disposition  and  half-heartedness,  for  it  esteems  married 
life  more  highly  than  voluntary  virginity,  and  under 
all  circumstances  it  is  lawful  and  laudable  to  strive 
after  that  which  is  higher  and  better.  The  Catholic 
Church,  on  the  other  hand,  while  considering  married 
life  a  sacred  state,  gives  a  higher  rank  to  life-long  vir- 
ginity consecrated  to  God. ' ' 

This  surprising  tribute  to  the  usefulness  and  dig- 
nity of  the  religious  life  as  practised  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  may  be  applied  with  equal  force  to  the  religi- 
ous teachers.  They,  too,  do  nothing  by  halves;  "their 
hearts  are  not  divided."1  "For  the  kingdom  of 
heaven's  sake"2  they  have  renounced  the  joys  of 
family  life.  All  their  affections  purified,  ennobled  and 
made  supernatural,  are  to  be  bestowed  on  those  en- 
trusted to  their  care.  It  is  Christ  whom  they  have  to 
see  in  the  little  ones,  according  to  the  words  of  the 
Divine  Master:  "He  that  receiveth  one  such  little  child 
in  my  name  receiveth  me. ' '  We  do  not  mean  to  im- 
ply that  married  men  may  not  be  excellent  teachers, — 
thousands  have  been  such,  —  nor  that  all  religious  on 
account  of  their  state  are  good  teachers.  We  merely 
wish  to  prove  that  the  religious  state  in  itself  affords 
many  advantages  for  the  cause  of  education.  The 
difficulties  connected  with  education  will  be  borne 
more  patiently,  sometimes  even  heroically,  by  one  who 
has  bound  himself  to  a  life  of  perfect  obedience  and 
self-sacrifice. 

1    I.  Corinth.  7,  33. 
2?  Matth.  19,  11,  12. 


98  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

Besides,  in  a  teaching  order,  a  continuity  of  aim 
and  effort  is  effected  which  is  and  must  be  wanting  in 
individuals.  Mr.  Quick  has  well  emphasized  this 
fact:  (<By  corporate  life  you  secure  continuity  of  effort. 
There  is  to  me  something  very  attractive  in  the  idea  of 
a  teaching  society.  How  such  a  society  might  capit- 
alize its  discoveries.  The  Roman  Church  has  shown 
a  genius  for  such  societies,  witness  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Christian  Brothers.  The  experience  of  centuries  must 
have  taught  them  much  that  we  could  learn  of  them. ' ' l 
For  this  reason  a  change  of  Professors  in  a  Jesuit  Col- 
lege is  attended  by  fewer  inconveniences,  as  all  have 
been  trained  under  the  same  system,  and  thus  have 
imbibed  the  pedagogical  traditions  of  the  Order. 

A  French  writer  has  spoken  of  another  advantage, 
the  moral  influence,  which  the  religious  exercises 
owing  to  his  state.  '  'The  Jesuit  teacher' '  —  the  same 
may  be  said  of  all  religious  teachers  —  "is  not  a  paid 
official.  The  pupils  look  up  to  him  as  a  loved  and 
venerated  friend.  Perhaps  they  know  that  he  is  the 
scion  of  an  illustrious  family,  who  could  have  followed 
a  splendid  career  in  life,  who  could  have  succeeded  in 
the  world  of  finances  and  industry.  But  he  preferred 
to  take  the  black  gown  and  to  devote  himself  to  educa- 
tion."2 

The  source  of  the  growing  antipathy  against  the 
educational  labors  of  religious  is  either  hatred  of  the 
Catholic  religion  or  religious  indifferentisrn.  When 
people  do  not  care  any  more  for  the  supernatural,  the 
education  based  professedly  on  supernatural  views, 
seems  to  them  out  of  date,  antiquated,  a  remnant  of 

1  Educational  Reformers^  p.  532. 

2  Albert  Duruy  in  Revue  des  Deux-Mondes,  Jan.  1,  1880. 


SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -REUGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    99 

medieval  priestcraft  and  clerical  tyranny.  Be  it  re- 
marked, however,  that  this  opposition  is  not  new  to 
our  age.  The  very  Middle  Ages  witnessed  a  violent 
opposition  to  the  teaching  of  religious  orders.  This 
was  especially  the  case  in  the  University  of  Paris, 
where,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  a  strong  rationalistic 
party,  headed  by  William  of  Saint- Amour,  endeavored 
to  expel  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  from  the 
professorial  chair.  William's  contention  was  that  the 
religious  should  not  be  allowed  to  teach,  but  should 
employ  themselves  in  manual  labors,  as  did  the  monks 
in  olden  times.  Then  it  was  that  three  able  pens  were 
employed  to  defend  the  religious  orders  and  their 
work:  those  of  Bonaventure,  of  Albertus  Magnus,  arid 
of  Thomas  Aquinas.  St.  Thomas  wrote  his  little 
work:  "Against  those  who  attack  Religion  and  the 
Worship  of  God",1  of  which  Fleury  said  that  it  had 
always  been  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  apology  for 
religious  orders.  In  the  second  chapter,  headed 
"Whether  Religious  may  teach",  and  the  third, 
*  'Whether  Religious  may  be  a  corporate  body  of  secular 
teachers",  the  Saint  refutes  the  objections  of  William 
in  a  most  lucid  and  powerful  manner,  and  sets  forth 
the  advantages  which  the  Church  and  society  may 
derive  from  teaching  by  religious  orders.  He  con- 
tends that  a  religious  order  may  be  instituted  for  any 
work  of  mercy.  As  teaching  is  a  work  of  mercy,  a 
religious  order  may  be  founded  with  the  special  end  of 
teaching.2  And  as  the  common  good  is  to  be  preferred 

1  Contra  Impugnantes  Dei  Cultum  et  Religionem.     Edi- 
tion of  Parma,  1864,  vol.  XV.     Opusculum  I.     See  The  Life 
and  Labors  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  by  Roger  Bede  Vaughan, 
O.  S.  B.,  1871,  vol.  I,  pp.  625—726. 

2  See  also  Summa  Theol.,  2.,  2.,  qu.  188,  a.  5. 


100  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

to  private  utility  a  monk  may  leave  his  solitude  with 
permission  of  Superiors,  to  minister  to  the  general 
good  by  teaching  as  well  as  by  writing. 

We  see  from  this  fact  that  history  repeats  itself, 
and  that  the  modern  attacks  on  the  educational  labors 
of  religious  communities  are  by  no  means  new.  The 
tactics  of  the  enemies  of  the  religious  change,  the  pre- 
texts of  attacks  on  them  will  vary,  but  the  nature  of 
the  warfare  is  ever  the  same.  It  is  conscious  or  un- 
conscious opposition  to  the  principles  of  Christianity. 
Therefore,  we  find  that  those  who  have  the  interest  of 
religion  at  heart,  are  not  among  the  opponents  of 
* '  clerical ' '  education. 

Even  Protestants  frankly  admit  that  the  union  of 
the  clerical  office  with  that  of  the  teacher  offers  great 
advantages.  Sir  Joshua  Fitch,  the  distinguished 
English  educator,  thinks  that  the  "parents  in  parting 
with  the  moral  supervision  of  their  sons  are  not  un- 
reasonably disposed  to  place  increased  confidence  in  a 
headmaster  who  combines  the  scholarship  and  the 
skill  of  teaching  with  the  dignity  and  the  weight  of 
the  clerg}mian's  office."1  And  Professor  Paulsen, 
certainly  not  theologically  biased,  says  that  it  was  not 
without  disadvantages  that  the  theologians  were  re- 
placed in  the  Gymnasia  b}^  philologians  and  mathe- 
maticians, a  change  which  for  a  long  time  was  wished, 
undoubtedly  not  without  good  reasons.  The  theolo- 
gian, owing  to  his  whole  training,  had  an  inclination 
towards  the  care  of  the  souls;  the  interest  in  the  whole 
man  was  the  centre  of  his  calling.2 

1  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  97. 

2  Geschichte  des  gel.   Unt.,  pp.  628—629  (2,  eel.,  vol.  II, 
p.  390). 


THK  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -RELIGIOUS  AS'EDUCATORS.    IOI 

What  we  have  said  so  far  undoubtedly  justifies  us 
in  maintaining  that  the  measure  adopted  by  Ignatius, 
in  making  education  a  special  ministry  of  a  religious 
order,  marks  an  epoch  of  prime  importance  in  the 
history  of  Catholic  pedagogy. 

The  character  and  object  of  the  Society,  the  means 
it  applies  for  obtaining  its  object,  and  its  system  of 
administration  are  laid  down  in  the  Constitutions  of 
the  Society.  These  Constitutions  are  the -work  of  St. 
Ignatius,  not,  as  has  been  asserted,  of  his  successor 
Lainez,  although  the  latter  was  one  of  those  Fathers 
whom  Ignatius  consulted  very  frequently  whilst  draw- 
ing up  the  Constitutions.  St.  Ignatius  died  in  1556; 
in  1558  the  representatives  of  the  Order  met  together 
and  elected  James  L,ainez  second  General  of  the  Society. 
They  examined  the  Constitution  which  Father  Igna- 
tius had  left  at  his  death,  and  received  it  with  unan- 
imity, just  as  it  stood.  They  presented  it  to  the  Sover- 
eign Pontiff  Paul  IV. ,  who  committed  the  code  to  four 
Cardinals  for  accurate  revision.  The  commission  re- 
turned it,  without  having  altered  a  word.1 

We  must  explain  a  few  details  of  the  organization 
of  the  Order,  as  certain  terms  will  be  used  again  and 
again  in  this  work.  The  Order  is  divided  into  Pro- 
vinces, which  comprise  all  the  colleges  and  other 
houses  in  a  certain  country  or  district.  The  Superior 
of  a  Province  is  called  Provincial;  he  is  appointed  by  ! 
the  General  for  a  number  of  years.  Several  Provinces 
form  a  so-called  Assistancy.  The  head  of  the  Order  is 
the  General,  elected  for  lifetime  by  the  General  Con- 
gregation. He  possesses  full  jurisdiction  and  admin- 
istrative power  in  the  Order.  Five  assistants  form,  as 

1    Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  65. 


102  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

it  were,  his  council.  They  are  elected  by  the  General 
Congregation,  from  the  various  assistancies.  They 
are  now  five:  those  of  Italy,  Germany  (with  Austria, 
Galicia,  Belgium  and  Holland),  France,  England  and 
North  America,  Spain  (with  Portugal).  The  legis- 
lative body  of  the  Order  is  the  General  Congregation. 
It  alone  can  add  to  the  Constitutions,  change  or  abro- 
gate. It  consists  of  the  General  (after  his  death,  his 
Vicar),  the  Assistants,  the  Provincials,  and  two 
special  deputies,  elected  by  each  province.  It  assem- 
bles only  after  the  death  of  a  General,  or  in  extra- 
ordinary cases  at  the  command  of  the  General.  As 
was  said,  it  elects  a  new  General  and  his  assistants, 
and  it  may  depose  the  General  for  grave  reasons.  It 
is  clear,  then,  that  the  General's  power  is  not  so  ab- 
solute as  it  is  sometimes  represented  to  be,  but  is 
wisely  limited. 

In  this  way  the  greatest  possible  centralization  is 
secured  in  the  hands  of  the  General,  and  yet  the 
danger  of  abusing  so  great  a  power  is  excluded  by  the 
institution  of  the  Assistants.  Ribadeneira  has  well 
remarked  that  this  form  of  government  borders  closely 
upon  monarchy,  but  has  still  more  in  common  with 
an  oligarchy,  for  it  avoids  everything  faulty  in  each  of 
the  two  systems  and  borrows  the  best  points  of  both. 
From  the  monarchy  it  takes  its  unity  and  stability; 
from  the  oligarchy  the  existence  of  a  council,  so  that 
the  General  may  command  every  one,  and  at  the  same 
time,  be  subject  to  every  one  (praesit  et  subsit).1 

In  connection  with  the  Constitutions  we  must 
mention  a  book  which  is  said  to  exhibit  the  "true" 
character  of  the  Society,  namely  the  so-called  Monita 

1    Saint  Ignatius,  by  H.  Joly,  p.  217. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    103 

Secreta,  or  code  of  secret  instructions,  supposed  to  have 
been  drawn  up  by  Aquaviva,  the  fifth  General,  for  the 
benefit  of  Superiors  and  others  who  are  considered  fit 
to  be  initiated  in  the  full  mystery  of  the  schemes  of 
the  Society.  It  imputes  to  the  Society  the  most 
crooked  designs  to  achieve  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
Order.  It  has  been  reprinted  again  and  again,  in 
England  as  late  as  1850  (London),  in  Prance  1870 
and  1876,  in  Germany  1886  and  1901.  The  work  has 
repeatedly  been  proved  to  be  an  infamous  libel,  writ- 
ten by  one  Zahorowski,  who  had  been  discharged 
from  the  Society  in  1611  or  1612.  Even  such  enemies 
of  the  Society  as  the  Jansenist  Arnauld,  the  "  Old- 
Catholics"  Dollinger,  Huber,  Reusch,  and  Friedrich, 
declare  it  ''spurious  and  a  lampoon  on  the  Order." 
Dr.  Littledale  calls  it  "an  ingenious  forgery",1  it  has 
been  recently  called  a  fraudulent  squib  by  Protestants 
like  Professor  Harnack  (1891),  Tschackert  (1891), 
and  others.2  And  still,  in  spite  of  all  this  adverse 
authority,  recent  Protestant  publications  have  referred 
to  this  forgery  as  to  an  authentic  document.  No,  not 
the  Monita  Seer  eta,  but  the  Constitutions,  available  to 
any  one,  contain  the  spirit  of  the  Society. 

The  Constitutions  are  divided  into  ten  parts,  the 
fourth  of  which  treats  of  studies.     This  part  is  the    / 
longest  of  all,  and  its  perfect  arrangement  met  with  v 
especial  admiration.      After  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitutions  successive  General  Congregations  issued 

1  Encyclopedia  Britannica^  article  "JesuUs". 

2  See  Duhr,  Jesuitenfabeln  (3rd  ed.),  pp.  76-102.—  The 
Month  (London),  August  1901,  pp.  176-185:   The  Jesuit  Bogey 
and  the  Monita  Secreta;  and  especially  Reiber,  Monita  Se- 
creta,  Augsburg,  1902. 


104  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

decrees,  emphasizing  the  vast  importance  of  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  and  the  great  esteem  to  be  had  for  the 
teaching  of  grammar  and  the  classics.  It  is  called 
"a  special  and  characteristic  ministry  of  the  Society" 
(  Congr.  8. ,  Dec.  8. ) ,  *  'one  of  the  most  desirable  occupa- 
tions and  most  beneficial  to  many"  (C.  7.,  D.  26.). 
In  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  the  very  first  Rule  reads  :l 
"As  it  is  one  of  the  principal  ministries  of  our  Society 
to  teach  all  the  branches  of  knowledge,  which  accord- 
ing to  our  institute  may  be  taught,  in  such  a  manner 
that  thereby  men  may  be  led  to  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  our  Creator  and  Redeemer,  the  Provincial 
should  consider  it  his  duty  to  see  with  all  diligence, 
that  the  fruit  which  the  grace  of  our  vocation  re- 
quires, corresponds  with  the  manifold  labors  of  our 
schools. ' '  This  work  of  teaching  boys  is  considered 
so  important  in  the  Society  that  in  the  last  vows  it  is 
expressly  mentioned  :  "I  vow  according  to  obedience 
a  special  concern  for  the  education  of  boys. ' ' 

The  branches  which  " according  to  the  Institute 
may  be  taught,"  are  chiefly  those  that  are  connected 
with  higher  education.  The  Society  has  been  blamed 
for  neglecting  elementary  education.  Professor  Huber 
thinks  that  the  Jesuits  did  so,  ''first,  because  this  task 
seemed  to  them  to  be  more  subordinate,  since  the  hold 
on  the  people  was  assured  to  them  any  way  by  their 
ecclesiastical  influence;  secondly,  because  on  the  whole 
they  were  no  friends  of  popular  education,  however 
insignificant ;  for  the  complete  ignorance  of  the  masses 
did  but  fortify  their  control  of  them. ' ' 2  This  is  a 

1    First  Rule  of  the  Provincial. 

!  Der  Jesuiten-Orden,  p.  348.  —  Coinpayre  repeats  this 
charge:  "The  Jesuits  have  deliberately  neglected  and  dis- 
dained primary  education."  Hist,  of  Fed.,  p.  142. 


THK  SOCIETY  OF  JKSUS. -RELIGIOUS  AS  EDUCATORS.    IO5 

flagrant  injustice  and  sheer  calumny.  The  Order  never 
opposed  popular  education.  On  the  contrary,  the 
Constitutions  expressly  declare  it  to  be  a  laudable 
work  :  ' '  Moreover  it  would  be  a  work  of  charity  to 
teach  reading  and  writing,  if  the  Society  had  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  men.  But  on  account  of  dearth  of 
men  we  are  not  ordinarily  used  for  this  purpose. "  1  — 
This  is  the  proper  reason,  and  the  only  one  why  the 
Jesuits  could  not  undertake  elementary  education. 
They  had  never  men  enough  to  supply  the  demands  yf 
for  higher  education.  Actually  hundreds  of  applica- 
tions from  bishops  and  princes  for  erecting  colleges 
had  to  be  refused.  As  early  as  1565,  the  Second  Gen- 
eral Congregation  had  to  decree  that  "existing  colleges 
should  rather  be  strengthened  than  new  ones  admitted. 
The  latter  should  be  done  only  if  there  was  a  sufficient 
endowment  and  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers 
available. ' ' 2 

How,  then,  could  the  Society  enter  so  vast  a  field 
as  that  of  elementary  education  ?     Besides  the  whole 
intellectual  training  of  the  Jesuits  fitted  them  better   v 
for  the  higher  branches.     At  the  present  day,  when 
the  watchword  is  "specialization",  the  Jesuits  should 

1  Constitut.,  P.  IV,  c.  12,  Declaratio  C.  —  The  XX.  Gen- 
eral  Congregation,    1820,   when   asked   whether   elementary 
schools  should  be  admitted,  reverted  to  this  passage  of  the 
Constitutions:  ' 'Such  schools  are  not  excluded  by  our  Insti- 
tute, on  the  contrary,  it  is  said  in  the  Constitutions  that  such 
teaching  is  a  work  of  charity.     But  the  dearth  of  men  is  to  be 
taken  into  consideration,  and  care  must  be  taken  not  to  hin- 
der greater  good   through  this    (admission    of    elementary 
schools).     The  whole  matter  is  left  to  the  prudence  of  the 
Provincials,  who  have  to  see  what  is  expedient  according  to 
place  and  circumstances."  Deer.  XXI.  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  107. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  74.     (Deer.  VIII.) 


106  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

rather  find  recognition  than  censure,  for  having  wisely 
limited  their  work  centuries  ago.  Moreover,  the 
Jesuits  did  teach  elementary  branches,  at  least  in 
some  places,  not  only  in  Paraguay,  but  also  in 
Europe.  Father  Nadal  writes  :  ' '  In  the  elementary 
class  (classis  abecedariorum) ,  whichr^niay  be  opened 
with  the  permission  of  the  General,  the  boys  are  taught 
reading  and  writing.  A  brother  may  be  employed  to 
assist  the  teacher  if  the  class  should  be  too  large. ' ' l  — 
Be  it  further  added  that  at  present,  in  the  foreign  mis- 
sions, v.  g.  in  Syria,  the  Jesuits  conduct  hundreds  of 
elementary  schools,  in  which  most  branches  are  taught 
by  lay  brothers  or  by  sisters  of  various  teaching  con- 
gregations. 2 

The  fourth  part  of  the  Constitutions  contains  only 
the  general  principles,  not  a  complete  system  of  educa- 
tion. That  this  more  general  legislation  was  not  con- 
sidered final  by  St.  Ignatius,  follows  from  the  passage 
in  which  he  states  that  "a  number  of  points  will  be 
treated  of  separately  in  some  document  approved  by 
the  General  Superior. ' ' 3  This  is  the  express  warrant, 
contained  in  the  Constitutions,  for  the  future  Ratio 
Studiorum,  or  System  of  Studies  in  the  Society  of 
Jesus. 


1  Monumenla  Paedagogica,  1902,  p.  108. 

2  See  below  chapter  VII. 

8     Const.,  P.  IV,  cap.  XIII.     Decl.  A. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Ratio  Studiorum  of  1599. 

The  number  of  colleges  of  the  Society  grew  very 
rapidly.  Colleges  were  opened  during  the  life-time 
of  St.  Ignatius,  at  Messina,  Palermo,  Naples,  and 
other  towns  in  Italy;  at  Gandia,  Salamanca,  Valencia, 
Alcala,  Burgos,  Valladolid,  and  Saragossa  in  Spain  ; 
at  Lisbon  in  Portugal ;  at  Vienna  in  Austria ;  and  at 
Billom  in  France.  After  the  death  of  the  first  Gen- 
eral (1556),  many  more  colleges  were  added  to  the 
list,  especially  in  those  parts  of  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands  which  had  remained  faithful  to  the  Cath- 
olic Church.  Thus  Ingolstadt,  Cologne,  Prague, 
Tyrnau  (Hungary)  were  opened  in  1556,  Munich 
1559,  Treves  1560,  Innsbruck  and  Mentz  1561,  etc.1 
In  Belgium  Audenarde  1566,  Douay  1568,  Bruges 
1571,  Antwerp  1575,  Liege  1582,  etc.  But  the  So- 
ciety possessed  as  yet  no  uniform  system  of  education; 
the  colleges  in  the  various  countries  at  first  followed, 
more  or  less,  the  systems  prevailing  there,  not  how- 
ever, without  improving  the  existing  methods  accord- 
ing to  the  general  principles  of  the  fourth  part  of  the 
Constitutions.  Still,  it  would  be  altogether  wrong  to 
suppose  that  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  or  Plan  of  Studies, 
drawn  up  '1584-1599,  was  the  first  important  document 

1  The  Colleges  of  Germany  are  enumerated  by  Paulsen, 
/.  c.,  pp.  265-281  (2nd  ed.,  vol.  I,  pp.  390-406);  those  of  Ger- 
many (Austria),  Poland,  Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  by  Pacht- 
ler,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  IX— XVI. 

(107) 


108  JESUIT  EDUCATION 

of  its  kind.  The  recent  historical  researches  of  the 
Spanish  Jesuits  have  shed  much  new  light  on  this 
question.1  These  Fathers  have  published  in  1901-1902 
many  important  documents  o.n  the  educational  methods 
of  the  Society,  drawn  up  before  1584.  Three  docu- 
ments especially  exhibit  three  complete  "Plans  of 
Studies."  The  first  was  written  by  Father  Jerome 
Nadal  (Latinized  Natalis),  probably  between  1548- 
1552,  during  the  life-time  of  St.  Ignatius.  Nadal  was 
well  fitted  for  drawing  up  a  plan  of  studies.  Possessed 
of  great  talent  and  a  singular  prudence,  he  had  made 
excellent  studies  in  the  University  of  Paris.  Appointed 
Rector  of  the  new  College  at  Messina,  in  1548,  he 
wrote  his  treatise  De  Studiis  Societatis  Jesu7  the  first 
plan  of  studies  of  the  Society  known  thus  far.2  The 
second  is  an  adaptation  of  Father  Nadal' s  plan  which 
was  sent  from  Messina  to  the  Roman  College.3  The 
most  important  is  the  third,  written  by  Father  Le- 
desma.  This  distinguished  scholar  had  studied  in 
the  Universities  of  Alcala,  Paris  and  lyouvain.  Im- 
mediately after  his  entrance  into  the  Society,  in  1557, 
he  taught  in  the  Roman  College  until  his  death,  in 
1575.  As  Prefect  of  Studies  in  this  college,  he  drew 
up  a  plan  of  studies  which  practically  contains,  at 
least  in  outline,  all  points  which  were  later  on  laid 
down  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum  concerning  classical 

1  Monumenta    Historica    Societatis  Jesu :    Monumenta 
Paedagogica,  1901-1902.     We  quote  this  important  collection 
as  Monumenta  Paedagogica,  to  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  Father  Pachtler's  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica. 

2  Monumenta  Paedagogica ,  p.  8  and  p.  89. 

3  Monnmenta  Historica  Societatis  Jesu:  "lyitterae  Qua- 
drimestres",  vol.  I,  pp.  349-358. 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  109 

studies. l  Besides  these  three  documents  there  are 
extant  fragments  of  plans  of  studies  of  various  colleges 
in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Germany.2 

With  the  increase  of  the  colleges,  the  want  of  a 
uniform  system  for  the  whole  Society  was  felt  more 
and  more.  Teachers  and  superiors  of  schools  and 
provinces  asked  more  urgently  for  the  plan  of  studies 
which  St.  Ignatius  had  promised  in  the  Constitutions. 
The  final  completion  of  the  educational  .system  was 
reserved  to  the  fifth  General  of  the  Order,  Father 
Claudius  Aquaviva,  who  governed  the  Society  from 
1581-1615.  His  Generalate  was  a  most  stormy,  but 
at  the  same  time  the  most  brilliant,  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Order.  It  was  the  glorious  time  of  the 
English  and  Japanese  martyrs ;  the  time  when  the 
great  missions  in  Japan,  China,  and  Brazil  began  to 
flourish ;  the  time  in  which  learned  men  like  Bellar- 
mine,  Suarez,  Maldonatus,  Toletus,  del^ugo,  Vasquez, 
Molina,  I^essius,  a  L,apide,  Peter  Canisius,  Clavius, 
and  a  host  of  other  writers  not  only  added  lustre  to 
the  Society,  but  were  held  to  be  the  foremost  scholars 
of  the  age  and  the  most  renowned  champions  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

In  1584,  Father  Aquaviva  called  to  Rome  six 
experienced  schoolmen,  who  had  been  elected  from 
different  nationalities  and  provinces,  in  order  that  the 
peculiarities  of  the  various  nations  might  be  considered 
in  the  formation  of  a  system  which  was  destined  to  be 
put  to  practice  in  so  many  countries  all  over  the 

1    Monumenta  Paedagogica,  pp.  10-12 ;  and  p.  141  foil. 

!  Ibid.  —  Father  Pachtler  had  published  one  such  plan, 
which  he  ascribed  to  Blessed  Peter  Canisius,  probably  written 
in  1560. 


110  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

world.  These  men  worked  for  about  a  year,  consult- 
ing authors  on  education,  examining  the  regulations 
and  customs  of  universities  and  colleges,  especially 
those  of  the  Roman  College,  and  the  letters,  observa- 
tions, and  other  documents  sent  to  Rome  from  the 
various  provinces.  The  standard  which  guided  these 
men  in  their  deliberations  was  the  fourth  part  of  the 
Constitutions.  In  1585  they  presented  the  result  of 
their  labor  to  the  General.1  In  1586,  Father  Aquaviva 
sent  the  report  to  the  provinces  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
ordered  that  in  each  province  at  least  five  men  of 
eminent  learning  and  experience  should  examine  the 
report,  first  in  private,  then  in  common,  and  should 
send  the  result  of  their  examination  to  Rome. 

How  much  liberty  was  granted  in  these  remarks 
on  the  educational  methods  then  prevailing  in  the 
Order,  may  be  seen  from  the  verdict  given  by  James 
Pontanus  (his  German  name  was  Spanmiller),  one  of 
the  ablest  classic  scholars  of  the  Society.  He  boldly 
censures  some  abuses,  especially  that  sometimes  young 
men  were  employed  in  teaching  who  were  not  suf- 
ficiently prepared  for  the  work ;  men  who  were  not 
well  grounded  in  Greek ;  that  too  frequent  changes 
occurred  among  teachers,  etc.  He  deplores  the  fact 
that  too  much  weight  is  laid  on  physics,  metaphysics, 
and  dialectics,  and  that  the  humanistic  studies  are  not 
valued  as  they  deserve.  "Without  classical  educa- 
tion," he  says,  "the  other  branches  of  study  are  cold, 
dumb  and  dead ;  classical  learning  gives  these  other 
studies  life,  breath,  motion,  blood  and  language." 
Pontanus'  memorandum  was  by  no  means  free  from 

1  Documents  given  by  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  p.  1  foil.  A 
summary  in  the  Etudes,  Paris,  January  1889. 


RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599-  III 

exaggerations  and  unwarranted  generalizations  of 
single  instances.  But  it  is  interesting  to  see  how 
freely  opinions  could  be  uttered  on  a  question  of  such 
importance. l 

The  notes  and  suggestions  sent  from  the  different 
provinces  were  examined  by  the  most  prominent  Pro- 
fessors of  the  Roman  College  and  three  members  of  the 
committee  of  1584-85,  and  then  were  used  in  drawing 
up  a  second  plan.  This  new  plan,  after  having  been 
revised  by  the  General  and  his  Assistants,  was  sent  to 
the  provinces  in  1591  as  Ratio  atque  Institutio  Studio- 
rum,  the  editio  princeps  of  the  Ratio.  The  Provin- 
cials who  came  to  Rome  for  the  fifth  General  Congre- 
gation (1593-94),  again  reported  on  the  results  of  the 
plan  as  practised  during  the  last  years,  and  demanded 
some  changes.  At  length,  in  1599,  when  every  pos- 
sible effort  had  been  made,  when  theory  and  practice 
alike  had  been  consulted,  and  every  advisable  modifi- 
cation had  been  added,  the  final  plan  of  studies 
appeared  under  the  title:  Ratio  atque  Institutio  Studio- 
rum  Societatis  Jesu  (Naples  1599),  usually  quoted  as 
Ratio  Studiorum.  Well  could  it  be  said  that  this  Ratio 
was  "the  fruit  of  many  prayers,  of  long  and  patient 
efforts,  and  the  result  of  the  combined  wisdom  of  the 
whole  Order."  —  It  has  sometimes  been  said  that 
the  word  Ratio  Studiorum  is  a  misnomer,  as  it  does 
not  propose  any  educational  principles.  However,  as 
Father  Eyre,  S.  J.,  years  ago  has  pointed  out,2  Ratio, 
as  applied  to  studies,  more  naturally  means  method' 
than  principle,  and  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  essentially 

1  Extracts  of  this  Memorandum  in  Janssen's  Geschichte 
des  deutschen   Volkes,  vol.  VII,  pp.  100-103. 

2  Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  p.  57. 


112  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

a  practical  method  or  system  of  teaching.  Hence  the 
name  is  altogether  appropriate. 

How  easily  an  author,  even  without  ill  will,  may 
be  led  into  mistakes  regarding  the  Ratio  Studiorum, 
can  be  inferred  from  the  following  passage  which  is 
found  in  a  Catholic  magazine.1  ''The  work  which 
caused  the  greatest  sensation  was  the  Ratio  atque 
Institutio  Studiorum  Societatis  Jesu,  published  in  the 
College  at  Rome  in  1586.  It  took  nine  months  to 
print  it.  The  part  bearing  on  theological  opinions 
raised  a  storm  of  opposition  among  the  other  religious 
orders,  principally  the  Dominicans,  who  denounced  it 
to  the  Inquisition.  The  result  was  that  Sixtus  V. 
pronounced  against  the  book,  and,  in  the  following 
editions,  the  chapter  De  Opinionum  Delectu  was  omit- 
ted. "  The  same  mistake  is  made  by  Dr.  Huber.2 

The  author  of  the  article  was  betrayed  into  making 
these  very  inaccurate  statements  by  implicitly  trusting 
Debure  (Biographic  Instructive,  Paris,  1764).  The 
historical  truth  is  established  by  Father  Pachtler,3  and 
by  Father  Duhr.  4  The  evidence  given  by  Father 
Pachtler  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

i.  The  Ratio  of  1586  was  in  no  sense  of  the  word 
"published",  and  hence  caused  no  "sensation"  what- 
ever. It  was  only  the  project  or  plan  of  a  Ratio,  and 
printed  privately  for  the  members  of  the  Order.  How 
it  should  have  taken  "nine  months  to  print  it,"  is  un- 
intelligible ;  the  error  arose  probably  from  misunder- 
standing the  fact,  that  it  took  the  six  fathers  who 

1  Iii  the  Catholic  World,  April  1896 :    Early  Labors  of 
the  Printing  Press. 

2  Huber,  Jesuiten-Orden,  p.  352. 

s    Mon.  Germ.  Paed.,  vol.  II,  pp.  19-21. 
4    Studienordmmg ',  pp.  15-23. 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  113 

formed  the  committee,  nine  months  to  work  out  the 
plan  of  the  Ratio. 

2.  This  first  draft,,  written  in  the  form  of  disserta- 
tions, is  now  very  rare.    It  is  known  to  exist  at  present 
in    Trier    (Treves),    Berlin,    Milan,    and    Marseilles. 
Father  Pachtler  has  for  the  first  time  reprinted  it  en- 
tirely from  the  copy  found  in  the  city  library  at  Trier 
(located  in  the  former  Jesuit  College). 

3.  This  private  document  was  not  "denounced  to 
the  Inquisition,"  but  was  wrongfully  seized  by  the 
"Spanish  Inquisition,"  at  the  instance  of  the  Spanish 
Dominicans,  set  on  by  some  disloyal  Spanish  Jesuits 
who  were  soon  after  expelled  from  the  Society. 

4.  As  soon  as  the  seizure  was  reported  to  Rome, 
Father     Aquaviva     complained     directly     to     Pope 
Sixtus  V.     This  energetic  Pope,  formerly  a  Franciscan 
and  by  no  means  partial  to  the  Jesuits,  far  from  "pro- 
nouncing against  the  book,"  became  highly  incensed 
at  the  action  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  and  wrote  a 
characteristic  dispatch  to  his  nuncio  in  Spain,  inclos- 
ing a  letter  to  the  Cardinal  Grand  Inquisitor  Quiroga, 
and  bidding  the  nuncio  deliver  the  letter  to  the  Car- 
dinal only  after  having  read  it  to  him.     In  this  letter 
the  masterful  Pontiff  commands  Quiroga,  in  virtue  of 
his  apostolic  power,  forthwith  to  restore  to  the  Society 
the  book  of  the  Institute  (which  had  also  been  seized) , 
and  especially  the  Ratio  Studiorum.     And  unless  he 
obeyed  this  command,  the  Pope  threatened  to  depose 
him  at  once  from  the  office  of  Grand  Inquisitor,  and 
strip  him  of  the  dignity  of  Cardinal.1 

5.  The  second  draft  of  the  Ratio  was  sent  to  the 

1     See  Sacchini,  Historiae  Societatis  Jesu,  Pars  V,  torn, 
prior,  p.  337. 
8 


114  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Provinces  in  1591.  In  this  draft  the  chapter  De  Opi- 
nionum  Delectu  (i.  e.  catalogue  of  philosophical  and 
theological  questions  which  were  not  to  be  taught  in 
the  Society),  was  omitted,  but  was  sent  out  separately 
for  examination  in  the  following  year.  Hence  the 
statement  that  in  the  following  editions  the  chapter 
De  Opinionum  Delectu  was  omitted,  is  again  inaccurate. 

6.  The  final  Ratio,  including,  of  course,  the  Cata- 
logus  Quaestionum,  was,  as  we  have  seen  before,  pro- 
mulgated in  1599.  * 

This  final  Ratio  did  not  contain  any  discussions  on 
the  educational  value  of  different  subjects,  nor  any 
treatises  why  this  or  that  method  had  been  adopted. 
Such  discussions  had  preceded,  and  had  been  con- 
tained in  the  Ratio  of  I585/2  That  of  1599  was  a  code 
of  laws,  a  collection  of  rules  for  the  different  officials, 
in  whose  hands  lies  the  government  of  a  college,  and 
for  the  teachers  of  the  various  classes.  The  rules  are 
divided  as  follows  : 

I. 
Regulae  Provincialis  (Provincial  Superior). 

"        Rectoris  (President). 

4<        Praefecti  Studiorum  (Prefect  or  Superintendent  of 
Studies;. 

II. 

Regulae  Communes  omnibus  Professoribus  Superiorum  Fa- 
cultatum  (General  regulations  for  the  Professors 
of  theology  and  philosophy). 

"        Professoris  Sacrae  Scripturae. 

"  "  Linguae  Hebraicae. 

"  "  Scholasticae  Theologiae. 

"  "  Historiae  Ecclesiasticae. 

"  ((  Juris  Canonici. 

"  "  Casuum  Conscientiae  (Moral  Theology). 

1  Woodstock  Letters,  1896,  pp.  506-507. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  pp.  25-217. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  115 

III. 

Regulae  Professor-is   Philosophiae . 

(<  "  Philosophiae  Moralis  (Ethics). 

"  "  Physicae    (Physics    and    other    natural 

sciences). * 
"  "  Mathematicae . 

IV. 

Regulae  Praefecti  Studiorum  Inferiorum  (together  with  reg- 
ulations for  written  examinations  and  for 
awarding  prizes). 

Regulae  Communes  Professoribus  Classium  Inferiorum. 
"        Professoris  Rhetoricae. 
"  "  Hu  man  itatis . 

"  "  Supremae  Classis  Grammatical. 

Mediae 
Infimae 

Hv  Then  follow  various  rules:  for  the  pupils,  for  the 
management  of  academies  (literary  and  debating 
societies)  etc. 

The  rules  under  No.  I  are  those  of  the  Superiors.2 
The  entire  government  of  a  college  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  Rector  (President).  He  is  also  the  court  of  appeal 
in  all  disputed  questions  among  the  teachers,  or 
between  the  masters  and  the  students.  He  is  to  in- 
spect the  classes  from  time  to  time,  in  order  to  inform 
himself  of  the  progress  of  the  students,  and  to  give  ad- 
vice to  the  teachers.  As  far  as  possible,  he  is  to  take 
an  interest  in  each  pupil  personally.  Nothing _£jL  im- 
portance can  be  undertaken  in  the  college  without 
consulting  him,  nor  can  any  custom  of  the  house  be 
changed  without  his  consent.  The  subordinate  offici- 
als have  that  amount  of  authority  which  he  gives 

1  Was   added   in   1832.      In  the   Ratio  of   1599  natural 
sciences  were  treated  as  part  of  philosophy. 

2  See  John  Gilmary  Shea,  History  of  Georgetown  Col- 
lege, 1891  <  pp.  83— 84. 


Il6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

them,  and  they  are  obliged  to  report  to  him  frequently 
on  the  conditions  of  affairs  in  the  college.  The  Rec- 
tor's power  is,  however,  not  absolute;  he  has  to  follow 
the  laws  laid  down  for  him.  Besides  he  is  provided 
with  a  Board  of  Consultors  and  he  is  obliged  to  ask 
their  opinion  on  all  matters  of  greater  moment,  although 
he  remains  free  to  follow  their  advice  or  to  reject  it. 
The  teachers  have  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  the 
Rector,  but  they  may  always  have  recourse  to  the 
higher  Superior,  the  Provincial.  The  Provincial  visits 
the  colleges  at  least  once  a  year,  and  every  teacher 
has  to  confer  with  him  privately  and  may  lay  before 
him  any  complaints  against  the  Rector.  In  this  man- 
ner, a  firm  centralized  government  is  ensured,  while  at 
the  same  time  any  arbitrariness  on  the  part  of  Superi- 
ors is  prevented. 

Interesting  are,  in  this  regard,  the  words  of  Father 
Nadal:  "L,et  the  Rector  have  his  ordinary  advisers 
(consultores)  and  let  him  hold  regular  meetings  (con- 
cilia). One  is  the  meeting  of  'languages',  in  which 
all  teachers  of  the  languages  take  part;  the  second  of 
philosophy,  and  the  third  of  theology.  To  these  meet- 
ings the  Rector  may  invite  two  or  three  other  experi- 
enced men,  if  he  thinks  it  necessary  or  useful.  In 
order  to  settle  a  question  concerning  languages,  or 
philosophy,  or  theology,  a  meeting  of  the  respective 
professors  should  be  held;  if  a  question  concerns  the 
whole  institution,  a  meeting  of  all  professors  should  be 
called.  However,  the  Rector  is  not  so  bound  that  he 
could  not  do  anything  without  convoking  such  a  meet- 
ing. For  these  meetings  are  held  that  he  may  benefit 
by  their  advice.  The  whole  authority  and  respon- 
sibility of  the  administration  rests  with  him;  but  every 


RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  117 

year  the  Rector  shall  report  to  the  General  about  the 
college,  and  all  officials  of  the  college  shall  inform  the 
General  through  sealed  letters  about  the  administra- 
tion by  the  Rector. ' ' 1 

The  chief  assistant  of  the  Rector  is  the  Prefect  of 
Studies.  To  him  belongs  the  direct  supervision  of  the 
classes  and  everything  connected  with  instruction. 
He  must  be  a  man  of  literary  and  scientific  accom- 
plishments and  of  experience  in  teaching,  so  that  both 
teachers  and  students  can  have  recourse  to  him 
with  confidence  in  all  questions  pertaining  to  educa- 
tion. It  is  his  duty  to  assign  the  students  to  their 
proper  classes,  to  determine  the  matter  of  examination, 
and  to  appoint  the  examiners,  to  select  the  authors  to 
be  read  during  the  following  scholastic  year,2  to  visit 
every  class  at  least  once  in  two  weeks,  to  admonish 
the  masters  of  any  defects  he  notices  in  their  manner 
of  teaching,  and  to  direct  them  by  other  useful  advice. 
In  all  this  he  is  the  instrument  of  the  Rector,  whom 
he  has  to  consult  in  all  important  matters. 

There  is  another  assistant  of  the  Rector,  the  Prefect 
of  Discipline,  who  is  immediately  responsible  for  all 
that  concerns  external  order  and  discipline.  From 
these  few  details,  it  will  appear  that  the  government 
of  a  Jesuit  college  is,  at  once,  extremely  simple  and 
highly  efficient. 

The  regulations  contained  under  No.  II  are  for  the 
theological  faculty  in  universities  and  seminaries.  We 
have  to  examine  chiefly  the  last  two  classes:  the  regu- 

1  Monuuienta  Paedagog'ica,  p.  102. 

2  "Before  selecting  the   authors",    says    Father  Nadal, 
"let  the  Prefect  of  Studies  hear  first  the  opinion  of  the  teach- 
ers."    Mon.  Paed.,  p.  130. 


1 1 8  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

lations  for  the  faculty  of  Arts  or  Philosophy,  and  those 
for  the  Studio,  inferiora  or  Humanities.  These  "lower 
studies"  were  for  the  greater  part  literary  and  corre- 
spond to  the  classical  course  of  the  high  school  and 
part  of  the  college.  The  Ratio  Studiorum  treated  lan- 
guages, mathematics  and  sciences  not  simultaneously, 
but  successively;  hence  the  distinction  between  Phi- 
losophy (Arts)  and  Studia  inferiora. 
/  In  the  five  lower  classes  —  in  many  places  there 
were  six  —  the  classical  languages  were  the  staple 
studies.  Other  branches,  as  history-  and  geography, 
were  to  be  treated  as  accessories  or  complements  of  the 
literary  studies.  The  task  for  each  grade  is  expressed  in 
the  first  rule  of  the  Professor  of  the  respective  class.1 

lyOWER  GRAMMAR.  The  aim  of  this  class  is  a  per- 
fect knowledge  of  the  rudiments  and  elementary  know- 
ledge of  the  syntax. — In  Greek:  reading,  writing, 
and  a  certain  portion  of  the  grammar.  The  work  used 
for  the  prelection,2  will  be  some  easy  selections  from 
Cicero,  besides  fables  of  Phaedrus  and  Lives  of  Nepos. 

MIDDLE  GRAMMAR.  The  aim  is  a  knowledge, 
though  not  entire,  of  all  grammar;  and,  for  the  pre- 
lection, only  the  select  epistles,  narrations,  descriptions 
and  the  like  from  Cicero,  with  the  Commentaries  of 
Caesar,  and  some  of  the  easiest  poems  of  Ovid.  —  In 
Greek:  the  fables  of  Aesop,  select  dialogues  of  Lucian, 
the  Tablet  of  Cebes. 

UPPER  GRAMMAR.     The  aim  is  a  complete  know- 

1  The  following  translation  of  these  rules  is  mostly  that 
of  Father  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  271  foil.     These  rules  contain  a 
few  modifications  of  the  Revised  Ratio  of  1832.     The  two 
Ratios  may  be  seen  separately  in  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  225  f.  and 
Duhr,  /.  c.,  pp.  177—280. 

2  On  prelection  see  chapter  XVI,  §  1. 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  119 

ledge  of  grammar,  including  all  the  exceptions  and 
idioms  in  syntax,  figures  and  rhetoric,  and  the  art  of 
versification. — In  Greek:  the  eight  parts  of  speech, 
or  all  the  rudiments.  For  the  lessons:  in  prose,  the 
most  important  epistles  of  Cicero,  the  books,  De  Ami- 
citia,  De  Senectute,  and  others  of  the  kind,  or  even 
some  of  the  easier  orations;  in  poetry,  some  select 
elegies  and  epistles  of  Ovid,  also  selection  from  Catul- 
lus, Tibullus,  Propertius,  and  the  Eclogues  of  Virgil, 
or  some  of  Virgil's  easier  books,  as  the  fourth  book  of 
the  Georgics,  or  the  fifth  and  seventh  books  of  the 
Aeneid.  — In  Greek:  St.  Chrysostom,  Aesop,  and  the 
like.  > 

HUMANITIES.  The  aim  is  to  prepare,  as  it  were,  the 
ground  for  eloquence,  which  is  done  in  three  ways:  by 
a  knowledge  of  the  language,  some  erudition,  and  a 
sketch  of  the  precepts  pertaining  to  rhetoric.  For  a 
command  of  the  language,  which  consists  chiefly  in 
acquiring  propriety  of  expression  and  fluency,  the  one 
prose  author  employed  in  daily  prelections  is  Cicero; 
as  historical  writers,  Caesar,  Sallust,  lyivy,  Curtius, 
and  others  of  the  kind;  the  poets  used  are,  first  of  all, 
Virgil;  also  odes  of  Horace,  with  the  elegies,  epigrams 
and  other  productions  of  illustrious  poets,  expurgated;  in 
like  manner  orators,  historians,  and  poets,  in  the  vernac- 
ular (1832).  The  erudition  conveyed  should  be  slight, 
and  only  to  stimulate  and  recreate  the  mind,  not  to 
impede  progress  in  learning  the  tongue.  The  precepts 
will  be  the  general  rules  of  expression  and  style,  and 
the  special  rules  on  the  minor  kinds  of  composition, 
epistles,  narrations,  descriptions,  both  in  verse  and 
prose.  —  In  Greek:  the  art  of  versification,  and  some 
notions  of  the  dialects;  also  a  clear  understanding  of 


120  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

authors,  and  some  composition  in  Greek.  The  Greek 
prose  authors  will  be  Saints  Chrysostom  and  Basil, 
epistles  of  Plato  and  Synesius,  and  some  selections 
from  Plutarch;  the  poets:  Homer,  Phocylides,  Theo- 
gnis,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Synesius,  and  others 
like  them. 

RHETORIC.  The  grade  of  this  class  cannot  be 
easily  defined.  For  it  trains  to  perfect  eloquence, 
which  comprises  two  great  faculties,  the  oratorical  and 
the  poetical,  the  former  chiefly  being  the  object  of  cul- 
ture; nor  does  it  regard  only  the  practical,  but  the 
beautiful  also.  For  the  precepts,  Cicero  may  be  sup- 
plemented with  Quintilian  and  Aristotle.  The  style, 
which  may  be  assisted  by  drawing  on  the  most  ap- 
proved historians  and  poets,  is  to  be  formed  on  Cicero; 
all  of  his  works  are  most  fitted  for  this  purpose,  but 
only  his  speeches  should  be  made  the  subject  of  pre- 
lection, that  the  precepts  of  the  art  may  be  seen  in 
practice.  — As  to  the  vernacular,  the  style  should  be 
formed  on  the  best  authors  (1832).  The  erudition  will  be 
derived  from  the  history  and  manners  of  nations,  from 
the  authority  of  writers  and  all  learning;  but  moder- 
ately as  befits  the  capacity  of  the  students.  —  In 
Greek:  the  fuller  knowledge  of  authors  and  of  dialects 
is  to  be  acquired.  The  Greek  authors,  whether  ora- 
tors, historians,  or  poets,  are  to  be  ancient  and  classic: 
Demosthenes,  Plato,  Thucydides,  Homer,  Hesiod, 
Pindar,  and  others  of  the  kind,  including  Saints  Nazi- 
anzen, Basil,  and  Chrysostom. 

Let  it  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  this  plan 
was  followed  slavishly.  The  different  provinces  of  the 
Order  made  such  adaptations  and  introduced  such 
changes  as  they  thought  best  for  their  respective  coun- 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  121 

tries.  We  give  here  the  plan  which  was  followed  in 
the  colleges  in  Upper  Germany,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  taken  from  the  Ratio  et 
Via  of  Father  Kropf,  published  in  I736.1 

LOWER  GRAMMAR.     First  Year. 
(First  high  school  class.) 

Latin.  .  Grammar  of  Alvarez,  elements,  and  easier 
rules  of  construction.  —  Reading:  The  easiest  letters 
of  Cicero,  specially  selected  and  separately  printed. 
Selections  from  book  I  and  II  of  Father  Pontanus' 
Progymnasmata . 2 

Greek.  Grammar  of  Father  Gretser,3  or  of  Father 
Bayer.4  Correct  reading  and  writing;  accents  and 
declensions. 

Religion.  Small  Catechism  of  Peter  Canisius,5 
part  I — II.  Explanation  of  the  Latin  Gospel. 

History.  Rudimenta  historical  vol.  I.,  treating 
chiefly  of  the  history  of  the  people  of  Israel. 

1  In    Herder's   Bibliothek   der   katholischen   Padagogik* 
vol.  X,  pp  340—348. 

2  James  Pontanus  S.  J,  Progymnasmatum  Latinitas  sive 
dialogorum  selectortim  libri  quattuor.     Several  works  of  this 
Jesuit  were  used  in  most  European  schools  for  over  a  century. 

3  James  Gretser,  S.  J.,  wrote  several  textbooks:  a  larger 
Greek  Grammar,  and  a  Compendium :  Rudimenta  Linguae 
Graecae,  both  in  many  editions ;  a  Latin-Greek-German  and 
a  Latin-Greek  Dictionary. 

4  James  Bayer,  S.  J.,  wrote  a  Short  Greek  Grammar,  a 
Latin-Greek  Dictionary,   and  a  Latin-German  and  German- 
Latin  Dictionary.     Of  the  last  the  eleventh  edition  was  pub- 
lished by  Professor  Mayer,  Wurzburg,  1865. 

5  On  this  catechism  see  chapter  XVIII. 

6  This  history,  comprising  six  volumes,  was  written  by 
Max  Dufrene,  S.  J.,   (Landshut,  Bavaria).     It  appeared  first 
1727—1730;  several  editions  followed. 


122  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

LOWER  GRAMMAR.     Second  Year. 

(Second  high  school  class.) 

Latin.  Alvarez'  Grammar,  book  I,  part  II  ;  repe- 
tition of  first  year's  matter;  the  irregular  verb;  first  part 
of  syntax.  —  Reading:  Select  letters  of  Cicero.  Selec- 
tions from  Pontanus'  Proyymnasmata. 

Greek.     Grammar:   repetition  of    declensions;   com- 
parison of  adjectives;  pronouns  and  auxiliary  verbs. 

Religion.  Catechism  of  Canisius,  part  I — III. 
Explanation  of  Latin  Gospel. 

History.  Rudimenta  historica,  vol.  II  :  The  four 
monarchies  (Ancient  history). 

MIDDLE  GRAMMAR. 
(Third  high  school  class.) 

Latin.  Grammar:  The  whole  of  syntax;  repetition 
of  irregular  verbs.  —  Reading:  chiefly  Cicero's  Epis- 
tulae  ad  Familiares,  some  parts  of  the  Progymnasmata. 
The  reading  of  poetical  works  which  is  customary  in 
other  Jesuit  colleges  in  this  class,  is  not  sanctioned  in 
this  province. 

Greek.  Grammar:  the  verb  completed. — As  re- 
gards reading  it  is  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  Prefect 
of  Studies  to  prescribe  the  study  of  the  Greek  Cate- 
chism or  Cebes'  Tablet.  At  all  events  the  pupils 
should  practise  the  reading  of  these  books  from  time 
to  time  and  give  an  account  of  their  reading. 

Religion.    Catechism  of  Canisius  and  Latin  Gospel. 
History.     Rudimenta  historica,  vol.  Ill:  The  Chris- 
tian Emperors  of  Rome  (Medieval  history). 

UPPER  GRAMMAR. 
(Fourth  high  school  class.) 

Latin.  Grammar:  the  whole  of  syntax  (repeated), 
rules  of  construction;  rules  of  prosody. — Reading: 
Above  all,  the  Letters  of  Cicero  to  Atticus  and  his 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1 599.  123 

brother  Quintus;  De  Amicitia,  De  Senectute,  etc.  Selec- 
tions from  the  Progymnasmata,  books  II  and  III.  — 
Selections  from  Catullus,  Tibullus,  Propertius;  Ovid; 
Virgil;  fourth  book  of  the  Georgics;  Aeneid,  books  V 
and  VII. 

Greek.  First  book  of  Gretser's  grammar,  except  the 
dialects. — Reading:  Chrysostom,  Aesop,  Agapetus,  etc. 

Religion.     Catechism  of  Canisius.     Greek  Gospel. 

History.  Rudimenta  historica,  vol.  IV  :  The  States 
of  the  World  (Modern  history). 

HUMANITIES,     (Freshman. ) 

Latin.  Rules  of  rhetoric  from  a  brief  compendium; 
rules  of  style,  tropes,  figures,  etc.  —  Reading:  Cicero's 
ethical  works;  Caesar,  lyivy,  Curtius,  Sallust,  etc.,  or 
easier  orations  of  Cicero:  Pro  Lege  Manilla,  Pro  Archia, 
Pro  Mar  cello  j  etc.  Virgil;  select  odes  of  Horace,  etc. 

Greek.  The  whole  of  syntax.  The  teacher  should 
see  that  the  pupils  acquire  a  fair  understanding  of  the 
authors,  and  that  they  are  able  to  write  an  easier 
Greek  composition.  The  authors  are  orations  of  Iso- 
crates,  or  of  Chrysostom  and  Basil;  also  letters  of  Plato 
and  Synesius,  selections  from  Plutarch,  poems  of 
Phocylides,  Theognis,  etc. 

Religion.    Catechism  of  Canisius;  the  Greek  Gospel. 

History.  Rudimenta  historica,  vol.  V  :  Geography 
and  heraldics. 

RHETORIC.     (Sophomore. ) 

Precepts  of  rhetoric  from  the  oratorical  works  of 
Cicero  and  Aristotle.  The  practice  of  the  rules  is 
chiefly  based  on  Cicero,  particularly  his  orations;  also 
the  historians  may  be  used  to  some  extent.  The  rules 
of  poetry  may  be  drawn  from  Aristotle's  Poetics.  Of 
the  poets  only  the  best  should  be  read:  Virgil,  Horace, 
etc. 


124  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Greek.  Repetition  of  syntax;  prosody;  the  dialects, 
a  further  introduction  into  Greek  literature.  The 
standard  authors  are  Demosthenes,  Plato,  Thucydides, 
Homer,  Hesiod,  Pindar,  etc.;  also  Gregory  Nazian- 
zen,  Basil,  and  Chrysostom  may  be  read. 

Other  L,atin  and  Greek  authors  which  may  be 
given  into  the  hands  of  the  pupils  of  the  class  of 
Rhetoric  and  of  other  classes,  are  enumerated  by 
Juvencius. 

Religion.  Catechism  of  Canisius  (larger  one).  On 
Saturday  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  are  read  in  Greek, 
or  an  oration  of  Chrysostom. 

History.  Rudimenta  histerica,  vol.  VI  :  Compen- 
dium of  Church  history. 

The  school  hours  were  not  too  long;  two  hours  and 
a  half  in  the  morning  and  the  same  in  the  afternoon; 
in  the  highest  class  (rhetoric),  only  two  hours  in  the 
morning  and  the  same  in  the  afternoon;  thus  the 
students  of  the  highest  grade  were  wisely  given  more 
time  for  home  work.  There  was  ordinarily  a  full 
holiday  every  week,  usually  Wednesday  or  Thursday, 
"lest,"  as  the  regulations  of  the  Province  of  the  Upper 
Rhine  have  it,  "the  pupils  have  to  go  to  school  four 
days  in  succession. ' ' x  These  holidays  were  frequently 
spent  in  a  country  house  (villa),  near  the  city.  On 
the  whole,  study  and  recreation  were  .so  distributed 
that  the  complaints  of  "overburdening"  the  students 
could  not  reasonably  be  made  in  Jesuit  schools. 

Against  the  literary  curriculum  of  the  Society  some 
serious  charges  have  been  made  by  modern  critics.  It 
has  been  said  that  nothing  but  the  ancient  languages 
was  studied  in  Jesuit  colleges,  and  that  other  branches, 

1     Pachtler,  /.  c.t  vol.  Ill,  p.  398. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  125 

as  history,  were  entirely  neglected,  ''Preoccupied 
before  all  else  with  purely  formal  studies,  and  exclus- 
ively devoted  to  the  exercises  which  give  a  training  in 
the  use  of  elegant  language,  the  Jesuits  leave  real  and 
concrete  studies  in  entire  neglect.  History  is  almost 
wholly  banished  from  their  programme.  It  is  only 
with  reference  to  the  Greek  and  Latin  texts  that 
the  teacher  should  make  allusion  to  the  matters 
of  history,  which  are  necessary  for  the  understanding 
of  the  passage  under  examination.  No  account  is 
made  of  modern  history,  nor  of  the  history  of  France. 
'History',  says  a  Jesuit  Father,  'is  the  destruction  of 
him  who  studies  it'."1  This  last  remark  strikes  us, 
and  perhaps  also  other  readers  of  M.  Compayre's  work, 
as  ridiculous.  We  ask:  Who  is  this  Jesuit  Father 
that  made  such  a  silly  statement?  Is  he  one  of  the 
framers  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  or  one  of  its  com- 
mentators, or  a  Superior  of  the  Order?  No;  no  one 
knows  who  he  is  —  if  ever  a  Jesuit  has  said  such  non- 
sense. But  granted  one  has  said  it,  must  not  every 
fair-minded  reader  ask:  Can  the  Jesuit  Order  be  said 
to  hold  and  defend  all  the  views  which  every  individ- 
ual Jesuit  has  uttered  ?  If  a  Professor  of  Harvard  or 
Yale  University  made  a  foolish  remark,  would  it  be 
fair  to  hold  up  the  two  universities  to  ridicule  ? 

But  let  us  examine  the  facts.  History  is  taught  in 
Jesuit  schools  and  was  taught  in  the  Old  Society,  it 
matters  little  whether  this  and  other  branches  were 
called  accessories  or  side  branches  —  they  were  called 
so  because  much  less  time  was  devoted  to  them  than 
to  the  study  of  language  and  literature.  It  is  true,  the 
historical  studies  were  not  then  cultivated,  neither  in 

1     Compayr£,  History  of  Pedagogy,  pp.  144 — 145. 


126  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Protestant  nor  Catholic  schools,  to  such  extent  as  is 
done  now.  But  history  was  never  neglected  in  Jesuit 
colleges,  and  it  gradually  obtained  a  place  of  honor 
among  the  literary  studies.  This  was  evidently  the 
case  in  France  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. We  refer  the  reader  to  various  works  which 
deal  with  this  subject.1  In  Germany  we  find  in  the 
Jesuit  colleges,  as  early  as  1622,  special  historical 
works  assigned  to  various  classes.  In  these  compen- 
dia also  "modern"  history  was  treated.2  The  text- 
books most  in  use  in  German  Jesuit  colleges  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  were  the  Rudimenta  Historica 
of  Father  Dufrene,3  and  the  Introductio  of  Father 
.Wagner.4  From  Father  Kropf's  work  it  is  evident 
that,  when  he  wrote  this  work  in  1736,  history  was 
treated  quite  systematically,  in  a  well  graded  course, 
in  all  the  classes  below  philosophy.  This  is  evident 
from  the  programme  given  above  on  pages  121 — 125. 
The  same  author  gives  also  a  method  of  teaching 
history.5 

1  Daniel,   Les  Jesuites  instituteurs  de  la  jennesse  aux 
XVII.   et  XVIII.   siecles.  —  Rochemonteix,     Un  college  de 
Jesuites  aux  XVII.  et  XVIII.  siecles.    Le  college  Henri  IV. 
de  la  Fleche,  vol.  IV.,  pp.  123—147. 

2  Duhr,  Studienordnung,  pp.  104—106.  —  Pachtler,  Mo- 
numenta,  vol.  IV,  p.  105  seq.  —  The  first  compendium  used 
was  that  of  Tursellini,   reaching   down   to   1598.      It  went 
through  many  editions  in  Germany,  and  in  1682  Father  Ott 
supplemented  it  by  a  history  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

3  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  112  seq. 

4  Paehtler,  /.  c.,  p.  118  seq. 

5  Pachtler,   /.   c.,   p.   116;    and   German  translation  of 
Kropf's  work  in  Herder's  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Pddago- 
gik,  vol.  X,  p.  422. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  127 

Nor  was  geography  neglected.  In  the  earlier 
Jesuit  schools  it  was  treated  more  fully  only  in  the 
philosophical  course,  in  connection  with  astronomy, 
or  as  "erudition"  in  the  class  of  rhetoric.  As  early  as 
1677  a  geographical  text-book,  written  by  Father 
Konig,1  was  used  in  German  colleges.  We  have 
proofs  that  geography  was  taught  in  the  colleges  in 
France,  twelve  years  after  the  publication  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum.  A  few  years  ago  a  manuscript  was  found 
belonging  to  the  old  Jesuit  college  of  Avignon,  written 
in  the  year  1611  by  Father  Bonvalot.  It  contains,  in 
ninety-four  folio  pages,  a  brief  but  complete  course  of 
geography.  This  course  is  divided  into  two  parts: 
Europe,  and  the  countries  outside  of  Europe.  Every 
country  of  Europe  forms  the  subject  of  a  special  chap- 
ter, in  which  ancient  and  modern  geography  are  com- 
bined. Special  attention  is  paid  to  the  customs  of  the 
peoples,  the  form  of  government,  etc.  This  manuscript 
was  used  as  the  basis  of  lessons  in  geography,  which 
were  dictated  to  the  pupils.  It  has  been  said  that 
geography  was  not  taught  in  Jesuit  schools  until  long 
after  this  branch  had  been  cultivated  in  the  schools  of 
the  Oratory  and  the  P  elites- E  coles  of  Port-Royal.  And 
yet  Father  Bonvalot  wrote  his 'course  of  geography  the 
very  year  in  which  the  Oratory  was  founded  and  more 

than  thirty  years  before  the  opening  of  the  Petites- 

f 

E coles.  But  Father  Bonvalot  was  perhaps  an  excep- 
tion. By  no  means.  Documentary  evidence  is  at 
hand  to  show  that,  before  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  there  was  hardly  a  manuscript  "course 
of  rhetoric"  in  the  colleges  of  Lyons,  Tournon,  Avi- 
gnon, etc.,  which  did  not  contain  a  course  of  geogra- 

1     Pachtler,  /.  c.,  pp.  106—107. 


128  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

phy.1  The  custom  of  dictating  these  lessons  was 
continued  until  the  handbooks  of  geography  were 
published  by  the  Jesuits  Monet,  Riccioli,  Labbe,  Briet, 
Saint-Juste,  Buffier.  Father  Daniel,  S.  J. ,  in  an 
interesting  essay  of  twenty-eight  pages,  has  given 
many  important  details  about  the  teaching  of  geogra- 
phy in  Jesuit  colleges  of  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries.2 

Special  attention  was  given  to  the  geography  of  the 
country  in  which  the  colleges  were  situated,  but  great 
interest  was  also  taken  in  the  geographical  discoveries 
in  foreign  countries.  The  Jesuits  .had,  during  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,"  better  advan- 
tages for  obtaining  geographical  information  than  any 
other  body  of  men.  The  Jesuit  missionaries  scattered 
all  over  the  world  sent  regular  accounts  of  their  jour- 
neys and  observations  to  their  brethren  in  Europe. 
That  much  valuable  geographical  and  ethnological  in- 
formation was  contained  in  these  reports  may  be  seen 
from  the  "Jesuit  Relations",  seventy -three  volumes  of 
letters  of  Jesuits  from  New  France,  i.  e.  .Canada  and 
the  Northern  part  of  the  United  States.3  Several  Jesuit 
missionaries  have  made  most  important  contributions 
to  the  science  of  geography,  not  only  by  great  dis- 
coveries as  that  of  the  Mississippi  by  Father  Mar- 

1  Chossat,  Lesjksuites  a  Avignon,  pp.  316 — 318. 

2  La  geographie  dans  les  colleges  des  Jesuites  aux  XVII. 
et  XVIII.  sitcles.     In  the  Etudes,  June  1879. 

3  Edited  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  published  by  Bur- 
rows Brothers,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1896—1901.     The  letters  of 
the  missionaries  were  read  by  the  students  in  the  colleges. 
Father  Nadal  said  they  might  be  read  to  the  boarders  during 
dinner  and  supper.     (Mon.  Paed.  p.  612.). 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  129 

quette,  but  also  by  most  valuable  maps.  Thus  we 
read  of  Father  Martini  in  Baron  von  Richthofen's 
work  on  China  :  "Father  Martini  is  the  best  geogra- 
pher of  all  the  missioriers.  By  his  great  work,  Novus 
Atlas  Sinensis,  the  best  and  most  complete  description 
which  we  possess  of  China,  he  has  become  the  Father 
of  Chinese  geography."  The  first  maps  of  North 
Mexico,  Arizona  and  L,ower  California,  were  prepared 
by  four  German  Jesuits,  among  them  the  famous 
Father  Kino  (his  German  name  was  Kiihn).1 

These  few  details  taken  from  a  mass  of  similar 
facts,  show  what  interest  the  Jesuits  took  in  geogra- 
phy, and  even  if  we  had  no  positive  proof  we  would 
have  to  conjecture  that  they  did  not  neglect  its  study 
in  their  schools.  But  the  positive  proofs  abundantly 
show  that  another  charge  against  the  Jesuit  colleges 
of  former  centuries  is  a  sheer  calumny. 

Owing  to  the  importance  of  Latin  as  the  universal 
language  of  the  educated  world,  less  attention  was 
devoted  to  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue.  In  this 
regard  the  schools  of  the  Jesuits  did  not  differ  from 
those  of  the  Protestants.  However,  at  no  time  was 
the  mother-tongue  entirely  neglected;  and  gradually  it 
received  more  and  more  consideration.  Thus,  in 
France,  rules  for  writing  French  verses  appear  in  the 
dictated  "courses  of  rhetoric"  in  1663. 2  About  1600, 
the  Bohemian  Jesuits  asked  and  received  permission 
to  open  a  private  "academy"  for  the  study  of  the 
Czech  language.3  As  early  as  1560  Father  Jerome 

See  Notes  upon  the  First  Discoveries  of  California, 
Washington,  1879. 

!    Chossat,  Lesfesuites,a  Avignon,  p.  320. 
Duhr,  Studienordnung ,  p.  110. 
9 


130  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

Nadal  had  exhorted  the  Jesuits  at  Cologne,  "to  cul~ 
tivate  diligently  the  German  language  and  to  find  out 
a  method  of  teaching  it;  they  should  also  select  pupils 
and  teachers  for  this  branch. "  l  In  1567  he  gave  the 
same  order  in  Mentz.  During  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
the  German  Jesuits  Balde,  Mair,  Bidermann  and 
Pexenf elder,  planned  the  establishment  of  a  society  for 
the  improvement  of  the  German  language;  but  the 
calamities  of  that  horrible  war,  which  reduced  Ger- 
many to  a  state  of  utter  misery,  frustrated  this  whole 
plan.  From  about  1730  on,  the  German  language 
was  taught  in  the  Jesuit  schools  according  •  to  fixed 
rules,  and  the  pupils  were  diligently  practised  in  writ- 
ing prose  compositions  and  poetry.  Many  valuable 
testimonies  on  this  subject  are  given  by  Father  Duhr.2 
The  fact  that  many  Jesuits  are  to  be  found  among  the 
prominent  writers  in  the  different  modern  languages  is 
another  proof  that  the  vernacular  was  not  neglected, 
much  less  "proscribed"  as  M.  Compayre  says.3  One 
of  the  finest  German  writers  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury was  the  Jesuit  Spe.  The  sweetness,  power  and 
literary  merits  of  his  collection  of  exquisite  poems, 
entitled  Trutz-Nachtigall  (Dare- Nightingale),  and  of 
his  prOvSe  work  Guldnes  Tugendbuch  (Virtue's  Golden 
Book)  are  admired  by  critics  of  the  most  different 
schools,  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics.4  Father 

J  Ib.,  p.  109:  "Exerceant  diligenter  linguam  germani- 
cam,  et  inveniant  rationem  qua  id  commodissime  fieri  possit; 
deligantur  etiam  qtii  earn  stint  docendi  et  quis  docturus." 

2  Ib.,  pp.  110—116. 

3  History  of  Pedagogy,  p.  144. 

4  Duhr,  Frederick  Spe,  Herder,  Freiburg  and  St.  Louis, 
1901.     See  the  writer's  article  "Attitude  of  the  Jesuits  iu  the 
Trials  for  Witchcraft,"  American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review, 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  131 

Denis,  a  Jesuit  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  a  most 
distinguished  German  writer,  and  has  been  called  "the 
pioneer  of  German  literature  in  Austria,"  How  could 
all  these  facts  be  explained  if  what  Mr.  Painter  says 
were  true :  "The  Jesuits  were  hostile  to  the  mother- 
tongue;  and  distrusting  the  influence  of  its  associa- 
tions, endeavored  to  supplant  it"?1 

After  the  pupil's  mind  had  been  enriched  with  the 
treasures  of  Latin  and  Greek  literature,  and  after  his 
native  talents  had  been  "cultivated"  or  "stimulated", 
as  the  Ratio  very  expressively  designates  it,  the  student 
entered  on  the  study  of  philosophy.2  This  course,  if 
given  completely,  comprised  three  years.  The  Ratio 
of  1599  prescribed  for  the  First  Year:  Introduction  and 
Logics;  Second  Year:  Physics,  Cosmology  and  Astron-  \ 
omy;  Third  Year:  Special  Metaphysics,  Psychology 
and  Ethics.  A  course  of  mathematics  runs  parallel 
with  philosophy. 

In  philosophy  Aristotle  was  the  standard  author. 
Of  course,  those  of  his  opinions  which  were  contradict 
tory  to  revealed  truths  were  refuted.3  fSpecial  care  is 
recommended  in  the  correct  explanation  of  the  text  of 
Aristotle.  "No  less  pains  are  to  be  taken  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  text  than  in  the  questions  themselves. 
And  the  Professor  should  also  convince  the  students 
that  it  is  a  very  defective  philosophy  which  neglects 
this  study  of  the  text. ' ' 4  The  Professor  of  Philosoph}7" 

July  1902,  p.  500.  —  This  Father  Spe  is  better  known  as  the 
heroic  opponent  of  witch  persecution. 

1  History  of  Education,  p.  170. 

2  vSee  Hughes,  Loyola,  pp.  274—281. 

3  Reg.  Prof.  Philosophise,  2. 

4  /£.,  12. 


132  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

is  also  told  "to  speak  respectfully  of  St.  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas and  to  follow  him  whenever  possible."1  The 
Ratio  had  to  encounter  many  an  attack  for  not  follow- 
ing St.  Thomas  more  rigorously.  But  the  composers 
of  the  Ratio  wisely  admitted  modifications,  as  St. 
Thomas  evidently  could  not  claim  infallibility  in  all 
questions. 

The  philosophical  course  comprised  not  only  phil- 
osophy properly  so  called,  but  also  mathematics  and 
natural  sciences.  This  successive  teaching  of  literary 
and  scientific  subjects  secured  concentration  and  unity 
in  instruction,  whereas  in  modern  systems  too  many 
branche's,  which  have  no  connection  with  each  other, 
are  taught  in  the  same  class  so  that  the  mind  of  the 
young  untrained  learner  is  bewildered.  There  is  an- 
other consideration  which  may  vindicate  the  educa- 
tional wisdom  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum  in  assigning 
mathematics  and  sciences  to  a  later  stage  in  the  cur- 
riculum. Distinguished  teachers  of  mathematics  have 
recently  pointed  out  that  the  mathematical  teaching  in 
the  lower  and  middle  classes  is  frequently  beyond  the 
capacity  of  the  students  of  those  grades.  Problems 
are  proposed  which,  at  that  stage,  can  at  best  be 
treated  only  mechanically  and  superficially.2  Mathe- 
matics, says  a  prominent  writer  on  this  subject,  makes 
very  high  demands  on  the  mental  powers  of  the  pupils, 
in  such  a  degree  that  only  the  mature  age  derives  the 
full  benefit  from  the  study  of  this  branch.3 

1  Id.,  6. 

2  Neue  Jahrbucher  filr  das  klassische  Altertum  etc.,  1901, 
vol.  VIII,  p.  201. 

3  Professor  Simon,   iu  Baumeister's  Handbuch  der  Er- 
ziehnngs-  und  Unterrichtslehre ,  vol.  rVY^Mathematik",  p.  33. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  133 

In  the  philosophical  course  of  the  Jesuit  colleges, 
mathematics  was  by  no  means  slighted,  or  treated  as 
a  branch  of  small  educational  value.  It  will  suffice  to 
quote  what  an  autograph  treatise  written  by  Father 
Clavius,  the  "Euclid  of  his  Age,"  has  on  the  teaching 
of  mathematics.  "First,  let  a  teacher  of  more  than 
ordinary  learning  and  authority  be  chosen  to  teach 
this  branch ;  otherwise,  as  experience  proves,  the 
pupils  cannot  be  attracted  to  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics. ...  It  is  necessary  that  the  professor  have  an 
inclination  and  a  liking  for  teaching  this  science  ;  he 
must  not  be  distracted  by  other  occupations,  otherwise 
he  will  hardly  be  able  to  advance  the  students.  In 
order  that  the  Society  may  always  have  capable  pro- 
fessors of  this  science,  some  men  should  be  selected 
who  are  specially  fitted  for  this  task,  and  they  should 
be  trained  in  a  private  school  (academia)  in  the  science 
of  mathematics.  ...  I  need  not  mention  that  without 
mathematics  the  teaching  of  natural  philosophy  is.  de- 
fective and  imperfect. —  In  the  second  place  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  pupils  understand  that  this  science  is 
useful  and  necessary  for  a  correct  understanding  of 
philosophy,  and,  at  the  same  time,  complements  and 
embellishes  all  other  studies.  Nay  more,  they  should 
know  that  this  science  is  so  closely  related  to  natural 
philosophy  that,  unless  they  help  each  other,  neither 
can  maintain  its  proper  place  and  dignity.  In  order 
to  accomplish  this  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  students 
of  physics  to  study  mathematics  at  the  same  time ; 
this  is  a  custom  which  has  always  been  kept  up  in  the 
schools  of  the  Society.  For  if  the  mathematical 
sciences  were  taught  at  any  other  time,  the  students 
of  philosophy  would  think,  and  not  without  some 


134  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

reason,  that  they  were  not  necessary  for  physics,  and 
so  very  few  would  be  inclined  to  study  mathematics. ' ' 
The  writer  then  goes  on  to  show  the  necessity  of 
mathematics  for  the  study  of  the  movements  of  heav- 
enly bodies,  of  their  distances,  of  the  oppositions  and 
conjunctions  of  the  comets ;  of  the  tides,  the  winds, 
the  rainbow,  and  other  physical  phenomena.  He  also 
treats  of  various  exercises  by  which  the  study  of 
mathematics  can  best  be  advanced,  such  as  lectures 
given  by  the  students  on  mathematical  and  astronom- 
ical subjects. l 

We  find  that  in  mathematics,  pure  and  applied, 
the  courses  of  the  Jesuit  colleges  were  advanced  to 
the  foremost  rank  ;  in  arithmetic  and  geometry  we 
notice  that,  as  early  as  1667,  a  single  public  course, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Jesuits  at  Caen,  numbered 
four  hundred  students.2  The  Order  had  among  its 
members  many  distinguished  mathematicians,  some  of 
whom  will  be  mentioned  in  succeeding  chapters. 

The  modern  course  of  physics  was,  in  those  cen- 
turies, a  thing  of  the  future.  But  the  physical  sciences 
were  taught  as  far  as  they  were  known  ;  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find  physical  cabinets  in 
regular  use,  and  experimental  lectures  given  to  the 
classes  by  the  professor  of  physics. 3 

These  testimonies  will  suffice  to  show  that  the 
Jesuits,  however  much  they  valued  the  classical 
studies,  were  not  so  one-sided  as  to  disregard  or  neglect 

1  Monumenta  Paedagogicay  pp.  471 — 478. 

2  Cretineau-Joly,    Histoire  de  la    Compagnie,    vol.  IV, 
ch.  3.  —  Hughes,  /.  r.,  p.   275.  —  See  also  Janssen,  vol.  VII, 
pp.  86—87.  ;  vol.  IV  (16.  ed.),  p.  414. 

3  Pachtler,  vol.  Ill,  p.  441,  n.  7. 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  135 

mathematics  and  natural  sciences.  What,  then,  should 
be  said  of  Compayre's  statements  :  "The  Jesuits  leave 
real  and  concrete  studies  in  entire  neglect.  .  .  .  The 
sciences  are  involved  in  the  same  disdain  as  history. 
Scientific  .studies  are  entirely  proscribed  in  the  lower 
classes."1  Indeed,  in  the  Old  Society,  the  sciences 
were  not  taught  in  the  five  lower  classes ;  there  the 
Jesuits  concentrated  the  efforts  of  the  pupils  on  the 
languages ;  but  in  the  three  highest  classes  they  ap- 
plied the  students  with  the  same  energy  to  the  study 
of  mathematics,  sciences  and  philosophy. 

Having  thus  far  analyzed  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  we 
may  be  allowed  to  quote  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Quick 
on  the  Ratio  Studiorum:  "The  Jesuit  system  stands 
out  in  the  history  of  education  as  a  remarkable  instance 
of  a  school  system  elaborately  thought  out  and  worked 
as  a  whole.  In  it  the  individual  schoolmaster  with- 
ered (sic!),  but  the  system  grew,  and  was,  and  I  may 
say  is,  a  mighty  organism.  The  single  Jesuit  teacher 
might  not  be  the  superior  of  the  average  teacher  in 
good  Protestant  schools,  but  by  their  unity  of  action 
the  Jesuits  triumphed  over  their  rivals  as  easily  as  a 
regiment  of  soldiers  scatters  a  mob. ' ' 2  This  system 
"points  out  a  perfectly  attainable  goal,  and  carefully 
defines  the  road  by  which  that  goal  is  to  be  approached. 
For  each  class  was  prescribed  not  only  the  work  to  be 
done,  but  also  the  end  to  be  kept  in  view.  Thus 
method  reigned  throughout  —  perhaps  not  the  best 
method,  as  the  object  to  be  attained  was  assuredly  not 
the  highest  object  (sic  /) ,  but  the  method  such  as  it  was, 
was  applied  with  undeviating  exactness.  In  this  par- 

Hisiory  of  Pedagogy,  p.  144. 
1    Educational  Reformers,  p.  508. 


136  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ticular  the  Jesuit  schools  contrasted  strongly  with 
their  rivals  of  old,  as  indeed  with  the  ordinary  school 
of  the  present  day. ' ' 1 

If  we  ask  to  which  sources  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is 
to  be  referred,  we  must  confess  that  an  adequate 
answer  is  not  easy.  There  are  many  little  brooks 
which  by  their  conflux  form  that  mighty  river.  Ig- 
natius and  his  companions  had  been  trained  in  scho- 
lastic philosophy.  The  Constitutions  and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  adapted  this  philosophic  system,  modified, 
however,  and  perfected  by  the  teachers  and  writers  of 
the  Order.  Hence  the  central  position  of  Aristotle  in 
philosophy,  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  in  theology.2 

1  Ib.,  p.  49. 

2  This  close  adherence  to  Aristotle  lias  been  made  a  sub- 
ject of  reproach  against  the  Jesuit  system.    And  yet  Protestant 
universities  followed  Aristotle  as  closely  as  the  Ratio.     Pro- 
fessor  Schwalbe   said   in   the    Conference    on    questions    of 
Higher  Education,  held  at  Berlin  in  1900:  "We  have  grown 
up  in  the  belief  in  the  infallibility  of  the  dogma  of  Aristotle. 
When    I   was    a   student,   Aristotle  was  still  considered  the 
greatest  scientist  on  earth.     I  have  investigated  this  question 
most  thoroughly,  and  have  found  that  the  universities,  even 
the  freest,  with  the  one  exception  of  Wittenberg,  fined  any 
one  who  dared  to  contradict  any  of  Aristotle's  propositions  on 
scientific  subjects.     In  Oxford  the  penalty  was  so  high  that 
Giordano  Bruno  was  unable  to  pay  it."      Verhandlungen  iiber 
die  Fragen  des  hoheren  Unterrichts  (Halle,  1902),  p.  109.  — 
This  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  fact  that  there  existed  a 
Protestant  "Inquisition"  as  well  as  a  Catholic,  and  it  should 
warn  certain  writers  to  speak  with  less  religious  bitterness  on 
the  regrettable  Galileo  affair.  —  Professor  Paulsen  states  in 
his  latest  work:   Die  deutschcn  Universitdten  (1902,  p.  43), 
that  the  dread  of  heresy,  during  the  seventeenth  century,  was 
probably  greater   in    the   Lutheran  universities  than  in  the 
Catholic,  because  in  the  former  the  doctrine  was  less  certain, 
and  dangers  were   apprehended  not   only  from  Catholicism 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  137 

The  literary  course  was  an  adaptation  of  the  hu- 
manistic schools  as  they  existed  shortly  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Reformation.  It  is  especially  Paris 
and  the  Netherlands  which  we  have  to  consider  as  the 
chief  sources  of  much  that  is  contained  in  the  Ratio. 
We  heard  that  the  great  University  of  Paris  was  the 
Alma  Mater  of  St.  Ignatius  and  his  first  companions. 
Great  must  have  been  the  influence  of  this  seat  of 
learning  on  the  formation  of  the  educational  system  of 
the  Jesuits.  Bartoli,  one  of  the  historians  of  the 
Society,  goes  so  far  as  to  say:  "Spain  gave  the  Society 
a  father  in  St.  Ignatius,  France  a  mother  in  the 
University  of  Paris. ' '  From  this  University  Ignatius 
probably  adopted  the  division  of  his  system  of  studies 
into  the  three  parts  :  Languages,  Arts  or  Philosophy, 
Theology.  In  languages  again  the  Constitutions,  as 
well  as  the  Paris  University,  distinguished  three  parts: 
Grammar,  Humanities,  Rhetoric.  The  school  ex- 
ercises, especially  the  disputations  in  philosophy,  were 
fashioned  after  those  of  Paris.  Father  Polanco,  secre- 
tary of  the  Society,  himself  a  student  of  Paris,  writes 
about  the  colleges  of  Messina  and  Vienna,  that  "exer- 
cises (disputations)  were  added  to  the  lectures  after 
the  model  of  those  of  Paris  (more  par&iensi).'* l 

Ignatius  himself  had  recommended  Paris  as  "the 

but  also  from  Calvinism.  Hence  also  in  the  philosophical 
faculties  of  Protestant  universities  theological  orthodoxy  was 
insisted  on  most  rigorously.  The  same  author  says  that  in 
the  frequent  changes  from  Lutheranism  to  Calvinism,  and 
vice  versa,  which  took  place  in  various  Protestant  states  in 
Germany,  careful  inquiries  were  made  as  to  whether  all 
teachers  and  officials  had  accepted  the  change  with  due  sub- 
mission. Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  vol.  I,  p.  324. 
1  Duhr,  Studienordnung ',  p.  5. 


138  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

University  where  one  gains  more  profit  in  a  few  years 
than  in  some  others  in  many."  l  In  1553  he  writes  to 
Cardinal  Morone  that  in  the  Collegium  Germanicum  in 
Rome,  the  exercises  in  the  Aries  Liberales  were  the 
same  as  in  Paris,  L,ouvain,  and  other  celebrated  Uni- 
versities. 2  lyouvain  was  called  by  him  a  "most  flour- 
ishing University, "  and  he  wishes  to  establish  a 
college  there. 3  It  was  pointed  out  before,  that  the 
"plans  of  study"  of  Nadal  and  L,edesma  exerted  a 
great  influence  on  the  Ratio  of  1599.  Both  these  men 
had  for  many  years  studied  at  Paris,  Ledesma  also 
in  lyouvain. 

This  leads  us  to  another  source  of  the  educational 
system  of  the  Jesuits :  the  humanistic  schools  of  the 
Netherlands.  We  spoke  of  L,ouvain  in  chapter  II. 
Ignatius  had  visited  the  Netherlands  in  1529  and  1530, 
and  a  considerable  number  of  Jesuits  in  the  first  dec- 
ades of  the  Society  came  from  that  country.  Ribade- 
neira  enumerates  53  who  became  known  as  writers 
before  1600.  Two  of  the  men  who  were  in  the  Com- 
missions for  drawing  up  the  Ratio,  Francis  Coster  and 
Peter  Busaeus,  were  from  the  Netherlands.  Others 
were  influential  as  founders  of  colleges,  for  instance, 
Peter  Canisius  of  Nymwegen ;  or  as  heads  of  famous 
institutions,  like  Leonard  Kessel  of  Louvain,  Rector 
of  the  College  of  Cologne. 

As  was  said  before,  during  his  sojourn  at  Paris, 
Ignatius  may  have  come  into  contact  with  the  Breth- 
ren of  the  Common  L,ife. 4  These  Brethren  conducted 

1  Joly,   Life  of  St.   Ignatius,  p.    85.  —  Cartas    de    San 
Ignacio  (Madrid  1874),  vol.  I,  p.  76. 

2  Cartas,  vol.  Ill,  p.  178. 

3  Id.,  vol.  II,  p.  292. 

4  See  page  32. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  139 

famous  schools  all  over  the  Netherlands  ;  their  col- 
lege in  lyie'ge  was  perhaps  the  most  nourishing  school 
in  Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation.  Many 
points  conspicuous  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  as  well  as 
in  Sturm's  system,  were  to  be  found  in  this  college. 
Latin  was  the  principal  branch.  It  was  taught  very 
methodically,  and  the  imitation  of  authors  was  insisted 
on.  The  course  had  eight  classes ;  the  lower  were 
grammar  classes  ;  the  fifth  —  and  part  of  the  sixth  — 
was  Rhetoric,  the  seventh  and  eighth  taught  Aristote- 
lian philosophy  and  mathematics.  Contests  between 
the  pupils  (concertationes)  were  frequent,  especially 
solemn  ones  at  the  distribution  of  prizes  at  the  end  of 
the  scholastic  year.  On  account  of  the  great  number 
of  pupils,  the  classes  were  divided  into  decuriae,  di- 
visions of  ten  pupils  each.  At  the  head  of  each  decuria 
was  a  decurio,  to  whom  his  ten  subjects  had  to  recite 
their  lessons,  etc. 1  All  these  customs  are  found  in 
the  Ratio  Studiorum. 

A  result  of  humanistic  influences  was  also  the 
domineering  position  which  Cicero  held  in  the  classi- 
cal course.  To  the  humanists  Cicero  had  been  the 
author,  whose  style  was  considered  by  many  with 
almost  superstitious  reverence. 

Humanism  in  the  Netherlands  had  been  much 
more  conservative  than  in  Italy  and  Germany.  Owing 
to  the  influence  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life, 
it  had  kept  more  faithfully  the  Christian  views  of  the 
earlier  humanists.  It  certainly  was  this  Christian 
humanism  which  appealed  to  the  religious  mind  of 
Ignatius;  he  always  suspected  the  writings  of  the 
3rounger  humanists.  Very  early,  shortly  after  his 

1     See  Ziegler,  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik,  p.  52. 


140  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

conversion,  the  Christian  Knight  of  Erasmus  had 
fallen  into  his  hands. l  He  conceived  for  this  book, 
as  well  as  for  the  Colloquies  and  similar  works  of  the 
author,  an  aversion  in  which  time  only  confirmed  him. 
Not  that  he  was  insensible  to  the  author's  grace  of 
style  (for  it  is  said  he  made  extracts  from  the  Christian 
Knight  in  order  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  niceties 
of  the  Latin  tongue),  nor  that  he  found  heterodox 
propositions  in  it ;  but  he  felt  repulsed  by  the  color  in 
which  things  and  ideas  were  presented,  by  the  ma- 
licious satire,  lack  of  feeling,  vanity,  and  hollow 
scepticism  which  were  prominent  on  every  page. 
Undoubtedly  even  if  lyUther  had  not  started  his  Re- 
formation, Ignatius  would  have  become  a  leader  in  a 
reform  opposed  to  the  radical  school  of  humanists,  to 
whose  disastrous  influence  the  immorality  of  the  time 
and  the  worldliness  of  many  ecclesiastics  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  to  be  ascribed. 

The  dependence  of  the  Ratio  on  the  University  of 
Paris  and  the  humanistic  schools  of  the  Netherlands 
refutes  also  the  supposition  that  the  Jesuits  have  drawn 
from  Sturm's  "Plan  of  Studies".  Sturm  himself  had 
studied,  from  1521-1523,  in  the  school  of  the  Brethren 
in  lyiege,  from  1524-1529  at  I<ouvaiii  in  the  famous 
Collegium  Trilingue;  from  1530-1537  he  was  student 
and  teacher  in  Paris.  A  German  Protestant 2  says : 
"The  organization  of  the  college  of  L,iege  made  such 
an  impression  on  young  Sturm  that  he  adopted  it  even 
in  some  minute  details  as  the  model  for  his  school  in 
Strasburg."3  Similarly  speaks  Professor  Ziegler. 4 

1  Joly,  Saint  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  p.  70. 

2  Ch.  Schmidt,  Director  of  the  Protestant   Gymnasium 
at  vStrasburg. 

3  Jean  Sturm,  pp.  5  and  36. 

4  Geschichte  der    Padagogik,  p.  75. 


THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  I59Q.  14! 

Thus  we  see  that  Sturm  had  drawn  his  educational 
ideas  from  the  very  same  schools  in  which  many  of  the 
first  Jesuits  had  been  educated,  and  which  were  con- 
sidered by  them  as  models.  Is  it  not  much  more 
probable  that  the  Jesuits  fashioned  their  own  system 
after  these  schools,  than  after  that  of  Sturm  in  Stras- 
burg?  Assertions,  like  that  of  Dr.  Russell,  that  "the 
Society  of  Jesus  incorporated  so  many  of  his  [Sturm's] 
methods  into  the  new  Catholic  schools, ' ' 1  are  highly 
improbable,  and  certainly  not  substantiated  by  any 
positive  proof.  What  was  similar  in  both  systems, 
was  to  be  found  in  the  humanistic  schools  of  the 
Netherlands. 2 

On  equally  feeble  grounds  rests  another  hypothesis 
advanced  in  recent  years,  namely  that  "what  is  really 
good  in  the  Jesuit  system  can  be  traced  almost  in  detail 
to  lyuiz  Vives. "  3  In  proof  of  this  statement  the 
fact  is  mentioned  that  Ignatius  met  Vives  in  Bruges. 
The  Spaniard  Vives  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
humanists  of  the  time,  and  a  distinguished  writer  on 
pedagogy.  He,  too,  had  studied  at  Paris  (1509-1512), 
and  spent  a  great  part  of  his  life  in  the  Netherlands. 
The  argument  used  against  the  dependence  on  Sturm, 
holds  good  in  this  case  as  well.  It  is  asserted  that 
Ignatius  had  borrowed  from  Vives,  among  other  good 
things,  "the  physical  care  bestowed  upon  the  young, 

1     German  Higher  Schools,  p.  47. 

!  After  this  chapter  had  been  finished,  I  found  that  Pro- 
fessor Paulsen  had  expressed  the  same  conclusion  in  his 
Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  (vol.  I,  p.  412),  where 
he  states  that  any  dependence  of  the  Jesuit  system  on 
Sturm's  plan  is  most  improbable. 

3  I/ange,  in  Encyclopddie  des  gesammten  Erziehungs- 
und  Unterrichtswesens,  IX,  776.  See  Duhr,  /.  c.,  p.  13. 


142  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  infrequency  of  punishment,  the  systematic  teach- 
ing of  Latin  in  a  series  of  classes,  the  study  of  prac- 
tical science,  of  history  and  geography,  in  conjunction 
with  the  explanation  of  the  texts,  the  use  of  note  books, 
emulation,  and  the  like."  Now  many  of  these  points 
were  not  inventions  of  Vives,  but  had  been  already 
mentioned  by  Quintilian. 1 

The  words  of  a  German  writer  on  pedagogy  are 
well  worth  being  quoted  on  this  point :  ' '  Strange 
attempts  have  recently  been  made  to  show  that  the 
Jesuit  pedagogy  which,  through  its  unquestionably 
grand  results,  has  become  famous,  is  to  be  traced  back 
to  Vives.  The  fact  that  Vives  met  the  founder  of  the 
Society  once,  for  a  very  short  time,  must  serve  as  a 
proof.  But  if  one  examines  the  educational  principles 
which  the  Jesuits  are  supposed  to  have  taken  from 
Vives :  infrequency  of  punishment,  physical  care  of 
the  pupils,  etc.,  it  becomes  immediately  evident  that 
these  are  principles  which  all  reasonable  educators 
have  followed  at  all  times.  We  should  be  forced  to 
make  the  absurd  assumption  that,  until  the  time  of 
Vives,  Catholics  never  in  the  past  had  had  sound 
pedagogical  views,  if  we  wished  to  trace  back  these 
self-evident  principles  to  Vives. ' ' 2 

It  really  looks  as  though  some  writers  are  deter- 
mined at  least  to  deny  all  originality  to  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  if  they  are  compelled  to  admit  that  it 
achieved  great  results.  We  frankly  and  willingly 
admit  that  the  authors  of  the  Ratio  borrowed  much 

1  See  Duhr,  Studienordnung >  p.  15. 

2  Dr.    Frederick     Kayser,     in     Historisches    Jahrbuch, 
Munich  1894,  vol.  XV,  page  350,  article:  "Johannes  I/udwig 

Vives." 


THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM  OF  1599.  143 

from  existing  systems,  it  matters  little  whence  and 
how  much.  We  must,  however,  claim  that  their  ex- 
perience from  1540-1599,  and  their  painstaking  efforts 
in  drawing  up  the  Ratio,  had  a  considerable  share  in 
the  results  that  attended  their  system. l  Above  all, 
what  is  most  characteristic  in  the  Jesuit  system,  the 
wonderful  unity  and  organization,  was  not  borrowed 
from  any  other  system,  but  is  the  work  of  the  framers 
of  the  Constitutions  and  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum. 

1  "It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  practical  experience 
(of  the  early  Jesuits)  exerted  a  greater  influence  011  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Order's  pedagogy  than  the  study  of  pedagogical 
theorizers."  G.  Muller,  quoted  by  Paulsen,  /.  c.t  vol.  I, 
page  412. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Jesuit   Colleges   and   their  Work    before   the    Sup- 
pression of  the  Society  (1540-1773). 

Within  fifty  years  from  the  solemn  approbation  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  Order  had  spread  all  over  the 
world,  from  Europe  to  the  Indies,  from  China  and 
Japan  in  the  East,  to  Mexico  and  Brazil  in  the  West. 
Wherever  the  Church  was  not  actually  persecuted,  as 
in  England,  there  sprang  up  educational  institutions. 
Shortly  after  the  death  of  the  fifth  General,  Father 
Aquaviva,  in  1615,  the  Society  possessed  three  hundred 
and  seventy-three  colleges;  in  1706  the  number  of 
collegiate  and  university  establishments  was  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-nine,  and  in  1756,  shortly  before 
the  suppression,  the  number  was  seven  hundred  and 
twenty -eight. 1  In  1584  the  classes  of  the  Roman 
College  were  attended  by  two  thousand,  one  hundred 
and  eight  students.  At  Rouen,  in  France,  there  were 
regularly  two  thousand.  Throughout  the  seventeenth 
century  the  numbers  at  the  College  of  L,ouis-le-Grand, 
in  Paris,  varied  between  eighteen  hundred  and  three 
thousand.  In  1627,  the  one  Province  of  Paris  had  in 
its  fourteen  colleges  13,195  students,  which  would 
give  an  average  of  nearly  one  thousand  to  each  col- 
lege. In  the  same  }^ear  Rouen  had  1,968,  Rennes 
1,485,  Amiens  1,430.  In  1675  there  were  in  L,ouis- 

1  See  Hughes,  Loyola,  pp.  69 — 77 ;  and  especially  Hamy, 
S.J.,  Documents  pour  servir  &  Vhistoire  des  domiciles  de  la 
Compagnie  de  Jesns,  Paris,  Alphonse  Ficarcl. 

(144) 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.    145 

le-Grand  3,000,  in  Rennes  2,500,  in  Toulouse  2,000^ 
Cologne  began  its  roll  in  1558  with  almost  800  stu- 
dents; Dillingen  in  Bavaria  had  760  in  1607.  At 
Utrecht  in  Holland  there  were  1000 ;  at  Antwerp  and 
Brussels  each  600  scholars.  Miinster  in  1625  had 
1300,  Munich  had  900  in  1602.  The  absolute  average 
is  not  known,  three  hundred  seems,  however,  the  very 
lowest.  This  would  give  to  the  seven  hundred  and 
more  institutions  a  sum  total  of  two  hundred  and  ten 
thousand  students,  all  trained  under  one  system. 
That  thus  the  Jesuits  exercised  a  great  influence  on 
the  minds  of  men,  is  undeniable.  The  question  is 
only,  was  their  influence  for  good  or  evil?  Was  their 
teaching  a  benefit  to  the  individuals,  and  more  so, 
was  it  advantageous  to  the  communities  ?  Was  their 
method  considered  as  productive  of  good  results? 
L,et  us  listen  to  contemporaneous  writers  in  high 
positions,  to  men  known  for  their  intellectual  achieve- 
ments, to  men  who,  owing  to  their  religious  tenets, 
cannot  be  suspected  of  partiality  to  the  Jesuits. 

The  testimony  of  L,ord  Bacon,  the  English  philos- 
opher and  statesman,  is  well  known:  "Of  the  Jesuit 
colleges,  although  in  regard  of  their  superstition 
I  may  say,  'Quo  meliores  eo  deteriores,'  yet  in  regard 
of  this  and  some  other  points  of  learning  and  moral 
matters,  I  may  say,  as  Agesilaus  said  to  his  enemy 
Pharnabaces,  'Talis  cum  sis,  utinam  noster  esses'."2 
Our  American  historian  Bancroft  does  not  hesitate  to 
say  of  the  Jesuits:  "Their  colleges  became  the  best 
schools  in  the  world. ' ' 3  And  Ranke  writes  :  "It  was 

1     Du  Lac,  Jesuites,  p.  297. 
-    Advancement  of  Learning,  book  1. 
3    History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  Ill,  page  120  (18th 
edition,  Boston  1864). 
10 


146  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

found  that  young  people  gained  more  with  them  in  six 
months  than  with  other  teachers  in  two  years.  Even 
Protestants  removed  their  children  from  distant  gym- 
nasia to  confide  them  to  the  care  of  the  Jesuits. "  x  — 
This  last  fact  was  more  than  once  lamented  by  Prot- 
estants. 

In  1625  a  report  of  the  Gymnasium  in  Brieg,  Sile- 
sia, complains  bitterly  of  the  lamentable  condition  of 
this  school.  This  condition  is  ascribed  chiefly  to  the 
theological  wranglings  of  the  Lutherans  and  the  Re- 
formed, and  to  the  inability  of  the  teachers,  who 
frequently  were  engaged  in  trades,  or  as  inn-keepers, 
or  acted  as  lawyers,  and  thus  neglected  their  duties  as 
teachers.  The  report  then  adds :  "If  the  teachers 
knew  how  to  preserve  the  confidence  of  the  parents, 
then  an  interest  in  the  school  would  soon  be  mani- 
fested by  those  who  now  prefer  to  send  their  children 
to  the  Jesuits.  For  these  Jesuits  knoiv  better  how  to  treat 
boys  according  to  their  nature,  and  to  keep  alive  a  zeal  for 
studies."  2 

Also  in  the  Protestant  Margravate  of  Brandenburg 
the  condition  of  the  schools  induced  parents,  noble- 
men, state  officials,  and  citizens,  to  send  their  sons  to 
foreign  Jesuit  colleges.  But  then  the  preachers  started 
a  violent  campaign  against  this  practice,  although  they 
had  to  admit  that  the  Jesuit  pupils  were  better  trained 
than  those  educated  in  the  Margravate.  Consequently, 
the  Elector  John  George  issued  severe  decrees  against 
sending  children  to  foreign  schools  (1564  and  I572).3 

1  History  of  the  Papacy,    vol.    I,   book   V,   sec.   3    (Ed. 
London  1896,  p.  416). 

2  Dollinger,  Die  Reformation,  vol.  I,  p.  447  (note  55). 

3  Dollinger,  /.  c.t  p.  543. 


JESUIT  COI^EGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.    147 

Professors  and  preachers  in  L,emgo,  Danzig,  Konigs- 
berg,  and  in  other  cities,  denounced  the  "godless 
practice  of  Protestants  who  sacrificed  their  children  to 
the  monstrous  Moloch  of  Jesuit  schools. ' ' l 

Wilhelm  Roding,  Professor  in  Heidelberg,  in  a 
book  :  Against  the  impious  schools  of  the  Jesuits,  dedi- 
cated to  Frederick  III. ,  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  gives 
expression  to  the  following  complaint:  "Very  n\any 
who  want  to  be  counted  as  Christians  send  their  chil- 
dren to  the  schools  of  the  Jesuits.  This  is  a  most 
dangerous  thing,  as  the  Jesuits  are  excellent  and  subtle 
philosophers,  above  everything  intent  on  applying  all 
their  learning  to  the  education  of  youth.  They  are 
the  finest  and  most  dexterous  6f  teachers,  and  know 
how  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  natural  gifts  of 
every  pupil. ' '  Another  Protestant,  Andrew  Dudith  of 
Breslau,  wrote  :  "I  am  not  surprised  if  I  hear  that  one 
goes  to  the  Jesuits.  They  possess  varied  learning, 
teach,  preach,  write,  dispute,  instruct  youth  without 
taking  money,  and  all  this  they  do  with  indefatigable 
zeal ;  moreover,  they  are  distinguished  for  moral  in- 
tegrity, and  modest  behaviour. "  2  A  Protestant 
preacher  attributed  the  popularity  of  the  Jesuit  schools 
to  magical  practices  of  these  wicked  men:  "These 
Jesuits  have  diabolical  practices;  they  anoint  their 
pupils  with  secret  salves  of  the  devil,  by  which  they  so 
attract  and  attach  the  children  to  themselves  that  they 
can  only  with  difficulty  be  separated  from  these  wiz- 
ards, and  always  long  to  go  back  to  them.  Therefore, 
the  Jesuits  ought  not  only  to  be  expelled  but  to  be 

1    /£.,  pp.  544—545. 

Further  testimonies   see  Janssen,  vol.  IV  (16th  ed.), 
pp.  473—476;  vol.  VII,  pp.  80—82. 


148  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

burnt,  otherwise  they  can  never  be  gotten  rid  of." 
Of  the  Hildesheim  Jesuits  it  was  said  that  they  used 
some  secret  charms  to  hasten  the  progress  of  their 
pupils.1 

A  most  remarkable  testimony  to  the  ability  of  the 
Jesuits  as  teachers  was  rendered  by  the  words  and 
actions  of  two  non-Catholic  rulers,  at  the  time. of  the 
suppression  of  the  Society  in  1773,  namely  by  King 
Frederick  of  Prussia  and  Empress  Catharine  of  Russia; 
we  shall  revert  to  their  testimony  further  on  in  this 
chapter. 

In  a  history  of  the  Jesuit  colleges  mention  must  be 
made  of  the  literary  and  scientific  works  published  by 
Jesuits.  The  colleges  of  the  Society  were  as  many 
colonies  of  writers.  It  is  impossible  to  give  here  an 
adequate  description  of  this  work  of  the  Society;  the 
Bibliography  of  the  Order  comprises  nine  folio  vol- 
umes, and  contains  the  names  of  thirteen  thousand 
Jesuit  authors  —  many,  if  not  most  of  them,  professors 
—  who  published  works  on  almost  every  branch  of 
learning. 2  Even  Dr.  Huber  admires  the  literary  and 
scientific  activity  of  the  Order:  "More  than  three 
hundred  Jesuits  have  written  grammars  on  living  and 
dead  languages,  and  more  than  ninety-five  languages 
have  been  taught  by  members  of  the  Orcler.  In  mathe- 
matics and  natural  sciences  there  are  among  them 
first  class  scientists.  Many  astronomical  observatories 
were  erected  by  them,  and  directed  with  great  suc- 
cess. ' ' 3  Still  more  striking  is  the  testimony  of  the 

1  Janssen,  vol.  VIII,  p.  650. 

2  BibliothZque   de  la    Compagnie   de  Jesus,  par  Carlos 
Sommervogel .     Brussels,  1890 — 1900.     On  the  writers  of  the 
old  Society  see  Cretineau-Joly,  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de 
Jesus,  vol.  IV,  ch.  IV  (3rd  ed.,  pp.  214-296). 

3  Huber,  Der  Jesuiten-Orden,  pp.  418-420. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.     149 

bitterest  enemy  of  the  Jesuits,  d'Alembert.  He  writes: 
"Let  us  add  —  for  we  must  be  just  —  that  no  religious 
society  whatever  can  boast  of  so  many  members  dis- 
tinguished in  science  and  literature.  The  Jesuits  have 
successfully  cultivated  eloquence,  history,  archaeology, 
geometry,  and  literature.  There  is  scarcely  a  class  of 
writers  in  which  they  have  no  representatives  of  the 
first  rank  ;  they  have  even  good  French  writers,  a 
distinction  of  which  no  other  religious  order  can 
boast."1 

Some  of  the  linguistic  works  of  the  Jesuits  are  of 
the  greatest  importance  and  even  celebrity  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  science  of  language.  The  first,  not  in  time 
but  in  importance,  is  that  of  the  Spanish  Jesuit  Her- 
vas.  Professor  Max  Miiller  of  Oxford  speaks  of  this 
Jesuit  in  the  highest  terms,  and  says  that  he  wishes  to 
point  out  his  real  merits,  which  other  historians  have  ' 
overlooked. 2  While  working  among  the  polyglottous 
tribes  of  South  America,  the  attention  of  Father  Hervas 
was  "drawn  to  a  systematic  study  of  languages.  After 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  South  America  in 
1767,  he  lived  in  Rome  amidst  the  numerous  Jesuit 
missionaries  who  assisted  him  greatly  in  his  re- 
searches. 

His  works  are  of  a  most  comprehensive  character  ; 
the  most  important  is  his  Catalogue  of  Languages,  in 
six  volumes.  "If  we  compare  the  work  of  Hervas 
with  a  similar  work  which  excited  much  attention 
towards  the  end  of  the  last  century,  and  is  even  now 
more  widely  known  than  Hervas'  —  I  mean  Court  de 

1  La  destruction  des  Jtsuites,  p.  43  ;  quoted  by  De  Badts 
de  Cugnac,  Les  fesuites  et  V  education,  p.  9. 

2  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language  (6th  ed.  1871), 
vol.  I,  p.  157,  note  40. 


150  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

Gebelin 's  Monde  primitif —  we  shall  see  at  once  how 
far  superior  the  Spanish  Jesuit  is  to  the  French  phi- 
losopher. Gebelin  treats  Persian,  Armenian,  Malay, 
and  Coptic  as  dialects  of  Hebrew;  he  speaks  of  Bask 
as  a  dialect  of  Celtic,  and  he  tries  to  discover  Hebrew, 
Greek,  English,  and  French  words  in  the  idioms  of 
America.  Hervas,  on  the  contrary,  though  embracing 
in  his  catalogue  five  times  the  number  of  languages 
that  were  known  to  Gebelin,  is  most  careful  not  to 
allow  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  theories  not  war- 
ranted by  the  evidence  before  him.  It  is  easy  now  to 
point  out  mistakes  and  inaccuracies  in  Hervas,  but  I 
think  that  those  who  have  blamed  him  most  are  those 
who  ought  most  to  have  acknowledged  their  obliga- 
tions to  him.  To  have  collected  specimens  and  notices 
of  more  than  three  hundred  languages,  is  no  small 
matter.  But  Hervas  did  more.  He  himself  composed 
grammars  of  more  than  forty  languages.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  to  point  out  that  the  true  affinity  of  lan- 
guages must  be  determined  chiefly  by  grammatical 
evidence,  not  by  mere  similarity  of  words.  He  proved, 
by  a  comparative  list  of  declensions  and  conjugations, 
that  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  Arabic,  Ethiopic,  and 
Aramaic  are  all  but  dialects  of  one  original  language, 
and  constitute  one  family  of  speech,  the  Semitic.  He 
scouted  the  idea  of  deriving  all  languages  of  mankind 
from  Hebrew.  He  had  perceived  clear  traces  of  affin- 
ity between  Chinese  and  Indo-Chinese  dialects  ;  also 
between  Hungarian,  Lapponian,  and  Finnish,  three 
dialects  now  classed  as  members  of  the  Turanian  fam- 
ily. He  had  proved  that  Bask  was  not,  as  was  com- 
monly supposed,  a  Celtic  dialect,  but  an  independent 
language.  .  .  Nay,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  discoveries 


JESUIT  COU,EGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.     151 

in  the  history  of  the  science  of  language,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Malay  and  Polynesian  family  of  speech. . . 
was  made  by  Hervas  long  before  it  was  worked  out, 
and  announced  to  the  world  by  Humboldt. ' ' 1 

Great  are  also  the  merits  of  Jesuits  in  regard  to 
the  study  pf  Sanskrit.  "The  first  European  Sanskrit 
scholar  was  the  Jesuit  -Robert  de  Nobili,"2  a  nephew 
of  the  famous  Cardinal  Robert  Bellarmine.  According 
to  the  words  of  Max  Miiller,  he  must  have  been  far 
advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  the  sacred  language  and 
literature  of  the  Brahmans.3  The  first  Sanskrit  gram- 
mar written  by  a  European  is  commonly  said  to  be 
that  of  the  German  Jesuit  Hanxleden  (t  1732).  How- 
ever, this  honor  belongs  to  another  German  Jesuit, 
Heinrich  Roth  (|  1668),  who  wrote  a  Sanskrit  gram- 
mar almost  a  century  before  Hanxleden.  4  Father  Du 
Pons,  in  1740,  published  a  comprehensive  and,  in 
general,  a  very  accurate  description  of  the  various 
branches  of  Sanskrit  literature.5  Of  Father  Coeurdoux 
Max  Miiller  writes  that  he  anticipated  the  most  im- 
portant results  of  comparative  philology  by  at  least 
fifty  years;  at  the  same  time  the  Oxford  Professor 
expresses  his  astonishment  that  the  work  of  this 
humble  missionary  has  attracted  so  little  attention,  and 
only  very  lately  received  the  credit  that  belongs  to  it.6 
Father  Calmette  wrote  a  poetical  work  in  excellent 

1  Id.,  pp.  154—157. 

2  /£.,  p.  174. 

3  fb.,  p.  174. 

4  Max  Miiller,  /.  c.,  p.  175.     Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur  die 
Kunde  des  Morgenlandes,   XV,    1901,   pp.  313—320.     Father 
Roth's  grammar  was  extant  in   the   Roman  College,   when 
Hervas  wrote  his  Catalogue. 

5  Max  Miiller,  /.  c.,  p.  179. 

6  /£.,  p.  183. 


152  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Sanskrit,  the  Ezour  Veda,  which  gave  rise  to  an  in- 
teresting literary  discussion.  Voltaire  declared  it  to 
be  four  centuries  older  than  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
pronounced  it  the  most  precious  gift  which  the  West 
had  received  from  the  East.  On  account  of  the  Chris- 
tian ideas  contained  in  the  poem,  the  atheistic  philos- 
ophers of  France  thought  they  had  found  in  it  a  most 
effective  weapon  for  attacking  Christianity.  Unfor- 
tunately for  these  philosophers,  an  English  traveler 
discovered  Father  Calmette's  manuscript  in  Pondi- 
chery.  l 

Various  important  works  on  the  dialects  of  India 
were  written  by  Jesuits,  among  others  several  gram- 
mars and  dictionaries  of  the  Tamil  language,  for 
which  the  first  types  were  made  by  the  Spanish  lay 
brother  Gonsalves.  The  works  written  in  the  Tamil 
language  by  Father  Beschi  (f  1740)  have  received  the 
most  flattering  criticism  by  modern  Protestant  writers. 
The  Anglican  Bishop  Caldwell,  in  his  Comparative 
Grammar  of  the  Dravidian  Languages  (London  1875), 
styles  them  the  best  productions  in  modern  Tamil, 
and  other  scholars,  as  Babington,  Hunter,  Pope,  and 
Benfey,  concur  in  this  eulogy. 2  Beschi's  grammar 
and  dictionary  are  praised  as  masterpieces.  Father 
Stephens'  grammar  of  the  Konkani  language  is  called 
an  admirable  achievement. 3  It  was  republished  as 
late  as  1857,  and  was  used  extensively  in  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

1  Dahlmaun,  Die  Sprachkunde  und  die  Missionen  (Her- 
der, 1891),  p.  19. 

Dahlrnaim,  /.  c.,  pp.  12 — 15. 

8  Truebner's  American  and  Oriental  Literary  Record, 
London  1872,  p.  258.  (Dahlmaun,  /.  c.y  p.  15.) 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.     153 

Not  less  noteworthy  were  the  labors  of  the  Jesuits 
in  the  Chinese  language.  In  the  fourth  International 
Congress  of  Orientalist,  Father  Matteo  Ricci  was 
called  "the  first  Sinologue".1  When  not  long  ago  the 
Protestant  missionaries  in  Shanghai  published  an 
edition  of  Euclid,  they  took  as  the  basis  of  their  work 
the  translation  made  by  Ricci.  His  works  were 
written  in  the  best  Chinese,  and,  according  to  the 
eminent  Orientalist  Remusat,  were  even  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  highly  esteemed  by  Chinese  scholars, 
for  their  elegance  of  diction  and  purity  of  language.2 
Father  Premare  (t  1736)  is  called  by  Morrison  the 
most  thorough  and  profound  grammarian  of  the  Chi- 
nese language.  And  Remusat  asserts  that  the  two 
Jesuits  Premare  and  Gaubil  have  not  been  surpassed 
or  equalled  by  any  European  in  sound  and  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  Chinese,  and  that  both  belong 
to  the  number  of  great  literary  luminaries  that  form 
the  pride  of  France.3  Premare 's  most  important  work, 
the  Notitia  Linguae  Sinicae,  was  published  in  1831, 
by  the  Protestant  Collegium  Anglo- Sinicum  in  Malakka. 
Remusat  styles  this  work  the  best  ever  produced  by  a 
European  in  the  field  of  Chinese  grammar.4  And  a 
German  scholar  writes:  "We  possess  no  work  on 
Chinese  grammar  which,  in  comprehensive  and  ju- 
dicious treatment  of  the  subject,  can  be  compared  to 
that  of  Premare's  Notitia.  Some  may  acquire  a  better 
understanding  of  the  Chinese  language  than  the 
French  Father,  but  it  may  be  said  that  not  easily  will 

1  Dahlmann,  /.  c.,  p.  27. 

2  Melanges  Asjiatiques,  vol.  II,  p.  11.     (Dahlmann,  /.  £., 
p.  28.) 

Dahluianu,  /.  c.y  pp.  40— 41. 
*    /£.,  page  42. 


154  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

any  European  so  fully  and  so  thoroughly  master  the 
spirit  and  taste  of  the  Chinese  language;  nor  will  there 
soon  be  found  an  equally  capable  teacher  of  Chinese 
rhetoric.  In  this  I  recognize  the  imperishable  value 
of  this  work,  a  value  which  in  some  quarters  is  rec- 
ognized more  in  deeds  than  in  words."  1  By  the  last 
remark  the  author  seems  to  imply  what  another  Ger- 
man writer  has  stated  more  explicitly,  namely,  that 
"several  of  the  best  works  of  these  Jesuits  have  been 
published  by  another  firm,"2  i.  e.,  they  have  been 
largely  used  by  other  writers  without  receiving  the 
credit  due  to  them.  Other  distinguished  Chinese 
scholars  were  the  Fathers  Noel,  Gerbillon,  Parrenin, 
de  Maillac,  and  Amyot. 3 

Great  praise  has  also  been  bestowed  on  works  of 
Jesuit  authors  on  the  languages  of  Japan,  South 
America,  etc. 4  Thus  we  read  in  the  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,  by  Justin  Winsor  :  "The 
most  voluminous  work  on  the  language  of  the  Incas 
has  for  its  author  the  Jesuit  Diego  Gonzales  Holguin. . . 
He  resided  for  several  years  in  the  Jesuit  College  at 
Juli,  near  the  banks  of  L,ake  Titicaca,  where  the 
Fathers  had  established  a  printing-press,  and  here  he 
studied  the  Quichua  language.  .  .  He  died  as  Rector 
of  the  College  at  Asuncion.  His  Quichua  dictionary 
was  published  at  Lima  in  1586,  and  a  second  edition 
appeared  in  1607,  the  same  year  in  which  the  gram- 

1  Zeitschrift der  deutschen  Morgenlandischen  Gesellsch aft, 
XXXII,  p.  604.     (Dahlmann,  /.  c.,  p.  45.) 

2  Neumann,  quoted  by  Dahlmann,  p.  25;  a  specimen  of 
such  plagiarism  which  occurred  quite  recently,  shall  be  men- 
tioned in  chapter  VII. 

3  /£.,  pp.  29—56. 

4  Ib.,  pp.  57—144. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      155 

mar  first  saw  the  light.  The  Quichua  grammar  of 
Holguin  is  the  most  complete  and  elaborate  that  has 
been  written,  and  his  dictionary  is  also  the  best."  l  — 
Similar  commendations  have  been  bestowed  on  the 
linguistic  works  of  the  Fathers  Rubio,  de  Acosta, 
Barzena,  Bertonio,  Bayer,  Pebres  (whose  grammar 
and  dictionary  of  the  Auracanian  dialect  were  re- 
published  for  practical  use  in  1882  and  1884  at  Buenos 
Ayres  and  Rio  de  Janeiro),  Anchieta,  Figueira,  Ruiz, 
and  others.  Ruiz'  grammar  and  dictionary  of  Gua- 
rani,  in  the  words  of  Mulhall,  are  a  lasting  monument 
to  his  study  and  learning. 2  Many  most  valuable 
books  and  manuscripts  of  the  Jesuits  were  ruthlessly 
destroyed,  when  the  Fathers  were  expelled  from  their 

"  colleges  and  missions  in  South  America.  Protestant 
writers,  as  Bach  and  Kriegk,  lament  that  this  van- 
dalism of  the  enemies  of  the  Society  has  destroyed  for 
ever  most  valuable  literary  treasures. 

V  In  the  field  of  mathematics  and  natural  sciences 
several  Jesuit  professors  have  attained  to  high  dis- 
tinction. We  mention  the  names  of  a  few.  Clavius 
(t  1610),  who  was  called  the  "Euclid  of  his  age", 
was  the  leading  man  in  the  reformation  of  the  calendar 
under  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  Professor  Cajori  says  with 
reference  to  this  work  :  "The  Gregorian  calendar  met 
with  a  great  deal  of  opposition  both  among  scientists 
and  among  Protestants.  Clavius,  who  ranked  high  as 
a  geometer,  met  the  objections  of  the  former  most  ably 
and  effectively ;  the  prejudices  of  the  latter  passed 

1  Wiiisor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America, 
Boston,  1889,  vol.  I,  p.  279.  See  also  pp.  262—264. 

1  Mulhall,  Between  the  Amazon  and  Andes,  London, 
1881,  p.  263.  (Dahlmaun,  /.  c.,  p.  85.) 


156  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

away  with  time. ' '  One  of  his  pupils  was  Gregory  of 
Saint-Vincent  (t  1667),  whom  Leibnitz  places  on  an 
equality  with  Descartes  as  a  geometrician.  '  'Although 
a  circle-squarer,  he  is  worthy  of  mention  for  the  nu- 
merous theorems  of  interest  which  he  discovered  in 
his  search  after  the  impossible,  and  Montucla  ingen- 
iously remarks  that  no  one  ever  squared  the  circle 
with  so  much  ability,  or  (except  for  his  principal  ob- 
ject) with  so  much  success. ' ' 2 

Another  disciple  of  Clavius  was  Matthew  Ricci 
(t  1610),  the  illustrious  mathematician  and  apostle  of 
China,  who  published  also  a  vast  number  of  valuable 
observations  on  the  geography  and  history  of  China. 
Father  Schall  of  Cologne  (t  1669),  a  prominent  mathe- 
matician and  astronomer,  was  appointed  director  of  the 
"Mathematical  Tribunal"  in  Pekin,  and  revised  the 
Chinese  calendar. 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  attention  of  mathema- 
ticians has  been  drawn  to  the  Jesuit  Father  Saccheri, 
Professor  of  mathematics  at  Pavia.  Non-Euclidean 
mathematics  is  now  recognized  as  an  important  branch 
of  mathematics.  The  beginnings  of  this  system  have 
sometimes  been  ascribed  to  Gauss,  the  "Nestor  of 
German  mathematicians".  But  recent  research  has 
proved  that  as  early  as  1 733  Father  Saccheri  had  pub- 
lished a  book  which  gives  a  complete  system  of  Non- 
Euclidean  geometry.  Beltrami,  in  1889,  and  Staeckel 
and  Engel  in  1895,  pointed  out  the  great  importance 
of  the  work  of  Saccheri. 3 

1  A  History  of  Mathematics,  by  Florian  Cajori,  Profes- 
sor in  Colorado  College.     Macmillan,  1894,  p.  155. 

2  Ball,  A  Short  Account  of  the  History  of  Mathematics, 
Macmillan,  1888,  p.  275. 

3  Professor  Halsted  of  the  University  of  Texas  published 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      157 

Father  Grimaldi  (f  1663),  professor  of  mathematics 
in  the  College  at  Bologna,  gave  an  accurate  description 
of  the  moon  spots,  discovered  the  diffraction  of  light, 
and,  in  his  work  Physico  -  Mathesis  de  Lumine, 
Coloribus  et  Iride,  advanced  the  first  attempt  of  a 
theory  of  undulation.  This  work  was  the  basis  of 
Newton's  theory  of  light.1  Father  Scheiner  (|  1650) 
was  one  of  the  first  observers  of  the  sun  spots  ;  it  is 
disputed  whether  he  or  Galileo  discovered  them  first. 
Scheiner  also  invented  the  pantograph,  and,  in  his 
work  OculuSj  hoc  est  Fundamentum  Opticum,  laid  down 
opinions  of  lasting  value  (especially  on  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  eye). 2 

More  famous  than  these  was  Athanasius  Kircher 
(t  1680),  a  man  of  most  extensive  and  varied  learn- 
ing   who    wrote   on   mathematics,    physics,    history, 
philology,  and  archaeology.     He  is  the  inventor  of  the 
magic  lantern  and  other  scientific  instruments.     He 
was  the  first  who  successfully  studied  the  Coptic  Ian-       n 
guage  and   deciphered  the   Egyptian   hieroglyphics.       V 
The  very  variety  and  universality  of  his  learning  was 
naturally  a  danger,  to  which  he  not  unfrequently  suc- 
cumbed.    He  often  betrays  a  lack  of  critical  spirit, 

a  translation  of  Saccheri's  work  in  the  American  Mathemat- 
ical Monthly,  and  Professor  Manning  of  Brown  University 
states  that  he  has  taken  Saccheri's  method  of  treatment  as 
the  basis  of  the  first  chapter  of  his  recent  book  Non-Eucli- 
dean Geometry,  Boston,  Ginn  and  Company,  1901,  p.  92.  See 
also  Cajori,  A  History  of  Mathematics,  p.  303.  —  Hagen, 
Synopsis  der  hoheren  Mathematik,  vol.  II,  p.  4. 

1  Meyer's  Conversations- Lexicon  (1895),  vol.  VII,  p.  983. 
-  Cajori,  A  History  of  Physics,  Macmillan,  1899,  pp.  88—89. 

2  Ib.,  vol.  XV,  p.  400;   XVI,  p.  475;   and  Allgemeine 
deutsche  Biographie,  vol.  XXX,  p.  718. 


I5S  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  proposes  phantastic  theories.  Still,  in  spite  of 
these  defects,  his  works  are  of  the  greatest  importance, 
and  his  Lingua  Aegyptiaca  Restitute  has  been  styled 
indispensable  even  at  the  present  day  for  the  study  of 
the  Egyptian  language. l  Father  Kircher  founded 
also  the  famous  Museo  Kircheriano  in  the  Roman 
College,  and  if  he  had  done  nothing  else,  this  alone 
would  secure  him  a  place  of  honor  in  the  world  of 
science.  The  services  rendered  to  mathematics,  as- 
tronomy, physics,  and  geography,  by  the  Jesuits  in 
China,  especially  by  Ricci,  Schall,  Verbiest,  Koegler, 
Hallerstein,  Herdtrich,  Gaubil,  have  been  generously 
acknowledged  by  Lalande,  Montucla,  and  more  re- 
cently by  the  Protestant  scholars  Maedler,'2  and  Baron 
von  Richthofen. 3  On  the  astronomical  observatories 
of  the  Jesuits  a  few  words  will  be  said  when  we  come 
to  speak  of  the  suppression  of  the  Order. 

Of  the  geographical  works  of  the  Jesuits  in  China 
Baron  von  Richthofen  writes  :  "If  the  Jesuits  had  not 
applied  their  scientifically  trained  minds  to  practical 
subjects,  we  would  not  possess  the  great  cartographic 
work  on  China,  and  that  country  would  still  be  a 
terra  incognita  for  us,  and  the  time  would  be  very  far 
off  in  which  it  would  become  possible  to  obtain  as 
much  as  that  picture  of  China  which  the  Jesuits  have 
given  us,  and  which  is  now  well  known  to  every- 
body. ...  It  is  the  most  important  cartographic  work 
ever  executed  in  so  short  a  time,  the  grandest  scientific 
achievement  of  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Catholic 
missions  in  China."  The  same  author  says  of  the 

1     Allgemeine  deutsche  Biographic,  vol.  XVI. 

'2    Madler,     Geschichte  der  Himmelskunde. 

3    Ferdinand  von  Richthofen,  China,  Berlin,  1877. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      159 

Tyrolese  Father  Martini  (|  1661):  "He  is  the  best 
geographer  of  all  the  missionaries,  and  by  his  great 
work,  the  Novus  Atlas  Sinensis,  the  best  and  most 
complete  description  which  we  possess  of  China,  he 
has  become  the  *  Father  of  Chinese  geography." 
Father  Du  Halde  gave  an  accurate  description  of 
Mongolia,  and  his  great  work  on  China  (1735)  is  still 
one  of  the  most  important  sources  available  on  the 
geography,  history,  religion,  industry,  political  or- 
ganization, customs,  etc.,  of  that  country.1  Some  of 
the  geographical  labors  of  the  Jesuits  in  America  have 
been  mentioned  previously. 2  Justin  Winsor  states 
that  the  Historia  Natural  y  Moral  de  las  Indias  of 
Father  de  Acosta,  "the  Pliny  of  the  New  World,"  is 
much  relied  on  as  an  authority  by  Robertson,  and 
quoted  19  times  by  Prescott  in  his  Conquest  of  Peru, 
thus  taking  the  fourth  place  as  an  authority  with  re- 
gard to  that  work.3 

All  these  works  are  as  many  testimonies  to  the 
efficiency  and  the  practical  character  of  the  system 
under  which  these  men  had  been  trained ;  most  of 
them  had  entered  the  Society  at  a  very  early  age. 
How  could  they  have  produced  such  works,  if  what 
Compayre  says,  were  true,  that  the  Society  devotes 
itself  exclusively  to  "purely  formal  studies,  to  exer- 
cises which  give  a  training  in  the  use  of  elegant  lan- 

1  China,  vol.  I,  pp.  650-692.  —  See  Dahlmann,  /.  £.,  pp. 
35-37.  —  Huonder,  Deutsche  Jesuiten-Missionare  des  //.  und 
18.  Jahrhunderts  (Herder,  1899),  pp.  86-89. 

2  Chapter  IV,  pp.  127—129. 

3  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,   vol.  I, 
pp.  262-263.     On  the  works  of  Father  Clavigero  on  Mexico 
see  ib.,  p.  158. 


160  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

guage,  and  leaves  real  and  concrete  studies  in  entire 
neglect"  P1 

In  history  the  Society  must  yield  the  palm  to  the  Order 
of  St.  Benedict,  particularly  to  the  celebrated  Congrega- 
tion of  St.  Maur.  Still,  some  Jesuits  produced  works  of 
lasting  value.  We  mention  first  the  De  Doctrina  Tempo- 
rum  by  Father  Petavius  (j  1652),  of  which  a  great  au- 
thority on  chronology  said  that  it  was  superior  to  the 
work  of  Scaliger,  and  an  invaluable  mine  of  information 
for  later  chronologists. 2  Father  L,abbe  (t  1667)  began 
the  Collection  of  the  Councils  which  is  much  used  up  to  the 
present  day.  A  more  complete  Collection  of  the  Coun- 
cils, in  fact  the  most  complete  that  exists,  was  published 
by  Father  Hardouin  ( t  1729).  He  wrote  also  a  most  val- 
uable work  on  numismatics,  in  which  six  hundred  anci- 
ent coins  were,  for  the  first  time,  described  and  with  won- 
derful sagacity  used  for  solving  intricate  historical  prob- 
lems. In  other  historical  and  critical  works  he  proceeded 
with  an  almost  incredible  boldness  and  arbitrariness, 
denying  the  authenticity  of  a  great  number  of  the 
works  of  the  classical  writers  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church.  In  many  questions  of  criticism  he  was  far  in 
advance  of  his  age,  but  some  of  his  hyper-critical  and 
eccentric  hypotheses  have,  to  a  great  extent,  obscured 
his  reputation.3  The  greatest  historical  work  of  the 

1  History  of  Pedagogy,  p.  144. 

2  Ideler,  Handbuch  der  Chronologie,  vol.  II,  pp.  602-604. 
See  Weiss,  Weltgeschichte  (2nd  ed.),  vol.  V,II,  pp.544— 552. 

3  It  is  a  rather  curious  fact  that  some  have  blamed  the 
Jesuit  Superiors  for  allowing  the  publication  of  several  of 
Father  Hardouin's  works,  curious  I  say,  because  it  is  said 
again  and  again  that  the  severe  censorship  of  the  Order  sup- 
presses all  original  and  independent  works  of  its  subjects. 
"Do  what  you  may,  we  shall  find  fault  with  you,"  seems  to 
be  the  principle  guiding  some  critics  of  the  Order. 


JESUIT  COU<3GES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION,      161 

Jesuits  is  the  collection  of  documents  called  Acta 
Sanctorum,  or  the  Bollandists,  so  named  after  the  first 
editor,  Father  Bolland  (t  1668).  The  most  distin- 
guished of  the  Bollandist  writers  was  Father  Papen- 
broeck  (t  1714).  Fifty -three  folio  volumes  appeared 
before  the  suppression  of  the  Society.  This  gigantic 
collection  is  a  work  of  prime  importance  for  the  history 
of  the  whole  Christian  era,  a  monumentum  aere perennius . 
Leibnitz  said  of  it:  "If  the  Jesuits  had  produced 
nothing  but  this  work,  they  would  have  deserved  to 
be  brought  into  existence,  and  would  have  just  claims 
upon  the  good  wishes  and  esteem  of  the  whole 
world. ' ' l 

In  literature  we  find  the  names  of  several  distin- 
guished Jesuits.  The  odes  of  Matthew  Sarbiewski 
(t  1640)  were  praised  as  successful  rivals  of  the  best 
lyrics  of  the  ancients;  Hugo  Grotius  even  preferred 
them  to  the  odes  of  Horace,"2  although  wre  must  call 
this  an  exaggerated  estimate.  Sarbiewski  was  sur- 
passed by  James  Balde  (t  1668),  who  for  many  years 
taught  rhetoric  in  Ingolstadt  and  Munich,  and  was 
styled  not  only  the  "Modern  Quintilian",  but  also  the 
"Horace  of  Germany".  His  Latin  poems  manifest  a 
variety,  beauty,  warmth  .of  feeling,  and  glowing  patri- 
•  otism  unrivalled  in  that  period.  He  was,  however, 
not  altogether  free  from  the  mannerisms  of  his  age. 
Protestant  critics,  as  Goethe  and  others,  have  admired 
the  productions  of  this  highly  gifted  poet,  and  Herder,3 

1  Quoted  by  De  Badts  de  Cugnac,  Les  Jesuites  et  r Educa- 
tion, p.  34. 

2  See  Baumgartner,  Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur,  vol.  IV, 
pp.  642—644. 

3  Of  Herder's  works,  the  whole  twelfth  volume  (Cotta, 
1829),  "Terpsichore",  is  devoted  to  Balde. 


1 62  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

who  translated  a  selection  of  Balde's  lyrics  into 
classical  German,  speaks  of  him  in  enthusiastic  terms.1 

The  classical  German  writings  of  Denis  and  Spe 
have  been  mentioned  previously.  We  may  add  here 
the  name  of  Father  Robert  Southwell,  who  was  exe- 
cuted for  his  faith  in  1595.  Saintsbury  says  of  him 
that  he  belonged  to  a  distinguished  family,  was  stolen 
by  a  gipsy  in  youth,  but  was  recovered;  "a  much 
worse  misfortune  befell  him  in  being  sent  for  educa- 
tion not  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge  but  to  Douay,  where 
he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  and  joined  their 
order. ' ' 2  Yet  notwithstanding  this  terrible  misfortune, 
he  must  have  greatly  profited  from  this  education;  for 
the  same  critic  admits  that  Southwell  produced  not 
inconsiderable  work  both  in  prose  and  poetry;  that  his 
works  possess  genuine  poetic  worth;  that  his  religious 
fervor  is  of  the  simplest  and  most  genuine  kind,  and 
that  his  poems  are  a  natural  and  unforced  expression 
of  it. 

Father  Perpinian  wrote  most  eloquent  Latin  dis- 
courses, which,  as  the  philologian  Ruhnken  affirms, 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  Muretus,  the  greatest 
Neo-Latinist.  The  philological  works  of  Pontanus, 
Vernulaeus,  L,a  Cerda  (the  famous  commentator  of  the 
works  of  Virgil),  and  others,  were  held  in  high 
repute.  Sacchini,  Jouvancy,  Perpinian,  Possevin, 

1  The  extensive  literature  on  Balde's  works  is  given  by 
Baumgartner,  /.  c.y  p.  645.     A  most  flattering  estimate  of  this 
Jesuit  is  to  be  found  in  Herzog's  Real-Encyclopadie  fur  pro- 
testantische  Theologie,   vol.   II.    (3.   edition,   1897),   article 
"Balde",  by  List,  where  it  is  said  that  "one  always  likes  to 
return  to  the  perusal  of  the  lyrics  of  this  God-inspired  man." 

2  Saintsbury,  A  History  of  Elizabethan  Literature,  Lon- 
don, 1887,  pp.  119—120. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION,      163 

Bonifacio,  and  Kropf  wrote  valuable  treatises  on  edu- 
cation.1 

We  have  purposely  abstained  from  mentioning  any 
writer  on  theology  or  scholastic  philosophy.  For  it  is 
admitted  on  all  sides  that  the  Society  produced  a  great 
number  of  most  distinguished  writers  in  scholastic 
philosophy  and  in  the  various  branches  of  theology: 
dogmatics,  apologetics,  exegesis,  moral  theology,  etc. 

Many  good  schoolbooks  were  written  by  Jesuits.2 
The  number  of  grammars,  readers,  books  on  style,  on 
poetics,  rhetoric,  editions  of  classics,  etc. ,  is  very  great. 
De  la  Cerda  published  one  of  the  best  editions  of  Vir- 
gil. The  editions  of  L,a  Rue  (Ruaeus)  were  famous; 

1  Compayre  asserts:   "The  Jesuits   have   never  written 
anything  on  the  principles  and  objects  of   education.     We 
must  not  demand  of  them  an  exposition  of  general  views  or  a 
confession  of  their  educational  faith."     L.  c.,  p.   142.     Vol- 
taire called  Jouvancy 's  Method  of  Learning  and  Teaching  the 
best  work   written   since   Quintilian's   famous  Institutes.  - 
Sacchini,  Jouvancy  and  Kropf  were  published  again  in  1896, 
as  vol.  X  of  Herder's  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Pddagogik; 
selections  from  the  works  of  Perpinian,  Bonifacio  and  Posse- 
vin  in  1901  as  vol.  XI. 

2  Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  p.  40.   That  also  in  the 
nineteenth  century  the  Jesuits  were  able  to  write  good  text- 
books may  be  seen  from  a  statement  of  Thomas  Arnold,  sou 
of  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby.    During  his  sojourn  in  New  Zealand, 
he  used  to  borrow  books  from  Frederick  Weld,  a  Jesuit  pupil 
of  Fribourg  (afterwards  Governor  of  Western  Australia.)  "One 
of  his  text-books,"  says  Arnold,  " which  he  had  brought  with 
him  from  Fribourg,  was  a  history  of  philosophy  by  the  Jesuit 
professor    Freudenfelt    [the  name   is   Freudenfeld,   died  at 
Stonyhurst  1850].     This  book  seemed  to  me  more  genially 
and  lucidly  written  than  similar  works  that  had  been  put  in 
my  hands  at  Oxford."     Passages  in  a  Wandering  Life,  Lon- 
don, 1900,  p.  99. 


1 64  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

of  course,  they  are  not  what  we  now  consider  stand- 
ard works  on  the  classics.  Father  Tursellini's 
book  De  Particulis  Linguae  Latinae  appeared  in  fifty 
editions;  the  last  edition  was  prepared  by  Professor 
Hand,  the  philologist  of  Jena.  The  celebrated  Gott- 
fried Hermann,  of  Leipsic,  published  a  revised  edition 
of  Father  Viger's  De  Idiotismis  Linguae  Graecae.1  This 
is  an  honor  which  not  many  old  books  have  received 
at  the  hand  of  German  scholars,  who  boast  of  such 
achievements  in  the  field  of  philology.  It  is  needless 
to  add  that  the  two  works  of  the  Jesuit  philologians 
thus  singled  out  must  be  of  considerable  excellence. 

One  department  of  the  activity  of  the  Order  deserves 
a  more  detailed  treatment:  the  Jesuit  school-drama.2 
At  present  there  is  no  need  of  defending  the  usefulness 
of  dramatic  performances,  given  by  students,  provided 
the  subject  and  the  whole  tone  of  the  play  are  morally 
sound  and  elevating.  Still,  there  were  times,  when 
the  Jesuits  had  to  defend  their  practice,  especially 
against  the  rigorists  of  Port  Royal,  the  Jansenists  in 
general,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century  against  several 
governments,  which  were  swayed  by  a  prosaic  bureau- 
cratic spirit  of  utilitarianism.3  The  principles  accord- 
ing to  which  the  drama  in  Jesuit  schools  was  to  be 
conducted  are  laid  down  by  Jouvancy  in  his  Ratio 
Docendi,  and  by  Father  Masen;  a  book  on  the  tech- 

1  See   Professor    Dr.  L/otholz,    Padagogik,  der  Neuzeit, 
1897,  p.  323. 

2  On  this  subject  see  Baumgartner,  Geschichte  der  Welt- 
literatur,  vol.  IV,  pp.  623—637. 

3  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  vol.  I, 
p.  358. 


JESUIT  COI^KGES  BEFORE  THK  SUPPRESSION.    165 

nique  of  the  drama  was  composed  by  Father  I^ang.1 
The  Institute  of  the  Society  had  taken  precautions 
that  the  school  dramas  should  neither  interfere  with 
the  regular  work,  nor  do  the  least  harm  to  the  morals 
of  the  pupils.  The  fifty-eighth  rule  of  the  Provincial 
reads:  "He  shall  only  rarely  allow  the  performance  of 
comedies  and  tragedies;  they  must  be  becoming2  and 
written  in  L,atin.J>  The  vast  majority  of  plays  were 
consequently  given  in  L,atin,  — the  language,  in  those 
times,  understood  by  every  man  of  culture.  Many 
Protestant  educators  and  preachers  *  were  altogether 
opposed  to  dramas  in  the  vernacular  "which,  as  they 
said,  were  good  enough  for  the  common  people  and 
apprentices,  but  unbecoming  students."  In  Jesuit 
colleges  plays  were  occasionally,  and  after  1700  more 
frequently,  performed  in  the  vernacular.3  Of  L,atin 
plays  a  programme  and  synopsis  in  the  vernacular 
was,  at  least  in  Germany,  distributed  amongst  those 
who  did  not  know  Latin. 

In  many  Protestant  schools  of  this  period,  for  in- 
stance in  the  celebrated  schools  of  Sturm  and  Rollen- 
hagen,  and  also  in  a  few  Catholic  schools,  the  comedies 
of  Plautus  and  Terence  were  exhibited,  not,  however, 
without  .strong  opposition  of  earnest  men,  who  rightly 
considered  some  of  these  plays  as  dangerous  for 

1  Jouvancy,  /.  c.,  ch.  II,  art.  II,  §3,  §6. — Masen,  Palaestra 
Eloquentiae  Ligatae  Dramatica,  Cologne,  1664.  —  I^ang,  Dis- 
sertatio  de  Actione  Scenica  etc.,  Munich,  1727. 

2  That  is,  "the  subject  should  be  pious  and  edifying", 
as  the  13th  Rule  of  the  Rector  has  it. 

3  Duhr,  pp.   136  foil.  —  In  France  many  dramas  were 
given  in  French  since  1679.     Rochemonteix,  /.  c.,  vol.  Ill,  p. 
189.  —  The  report  of  1832  says  dramas  should  be  in  the  ver- 
nacular.    Pachtler,  op.  cit.>  vol.  IV,    p.  479. 


1 66  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

young  people.  Von  Raumer  says:  ' ' It  seems  incred- 
ible that  the  learning  by  heart  and  acting  of  comedies, 
so  lascivious  as  those  of  Terence,  could  have  remained 
without  evil  influence  on  the  morality  of  youth,  and 
we  find  it  unintelligible  that  a  religious-minded  man 
like  Sturm  did  not  consider  Terence  really  seductive. 
If  the  mere  reading  of  an  author  like  Terence  is  risky, 
how  much  more  risky  must  it  be,  if  pupils  perform 
such  pieces  and  have  to  familiarize  themselves  alto- 
gether with  the  persons  and  situations. ' ' l  No  wonder 
that  serious  complaints  were  made  against  such  per- 
nicious practices.2  The  biblical  and  historical  plays 
performed  in  Protestant  schools  were  mostly  directed 
against  "Popish  idolatry".3 

The  drama  of  the  Jesuits  stood  in  sharp  contrast  to 
that  of  the  Protestants.  As  their  whole  literary  edu- 
cation, so  also  their  drama  was  subordinate  to  the 
religious  and  moral  training.  The  Ratio  Studioruin 
prohibited  the  reading  of  any  classical  books  which 
contained  obscenities;  they  had  first  to  be  expurgated; 
expressly  mentioned  were  Terence  and  Plautus.  This 
must  reflect  most  favorably  on  the  Jesuits,  in  a  time 
when  vulgarity  and  obscenity  reigned  supreme  in 
literature  and  drama. 

As  the  nature  and  function  of  the  theatre  the 
Jesuits  considered  the  stirring  up  of  the  pious  emo- 
tions, the  guardianship  of  youth  against  the  corrupting 
influence  of  evil  society,  the  portrayal  of  vice  as  some- 
thing intrinsically  despicable,  the  rousing  up  of  the 
inner  man  to  a  zealous  crusade  for  virtue,  and  the 

1  History  of  Pedagogy,  vol.  I,  p.  272.  (Jansseii's  History 
of  the  German  People,  vol.  VII,  p.  108.) 

2  IMd.,p.  113  sq. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  117. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      167 

imitation  of  the  Saints.  Even  in  the  treatment  of 
purely  secular  subjects,  the  plot  was  always  of  a 
spiritually  serious,  deeply  tragic,  and  morally  impor- 
tant nature.  The  aim  of  the  comic  drama  was  to  strike 
at  the  puerilities  and  ineptitudes,  which  could  be 
treated  on  the  stage  without  any  detriment  to  the 
moral  conscience.  Vulgar  jokes  and  low  comedy  were 
once  and  for  all  excluded,  and  the  Jesuit  authorities 
were  indefatigable  in  thus  guarding  the  moral  prestige 
of  the  plays.  In  general,  only  such  plays  were  written 
and  produced  as  were  in  harmony  with  the  moral  ends 
and  moral  limits  of  dramatic  art  itself :  a  meritorious 
achievement  in  an  age  when  every  sentiment  of  moral 
delicacy,  every  prescription  of  social  decorum,  every 
dictate  of  ordinary  modesty  —  both  in  the  school  and 
on  the  stage  —  was  being  outraged.  And  this  fact 
produced  a  healthy  reaction  in  favor  of  all  the  fine  arts 
in  general.  The  intermittent  efforts  of  Jesuit  dram- 
atists could  not,  it  is  true,  completely  stem  the  tide  of 
public  degeneracy,  could  not  even  remain  altogether 
unscathed  by  the  time-serving  fashions  and  foibles  of 
the  age:  from  the  grosser  and  more  revolting  aberra- 
tions they  were  happily  preserved.1 

The  subjects  of  Jesuit  dramas  were  frequently  bib- 
lical or  allegorical:  as  "The  Prodigal  Son"  (Heiligen- 
stadt  1582),  "Joseph  in  Egypt"  (Munich  1583), 
'"Christ  as  Judge",  "Saul  and  David"  (Graz  1589— 
1600),  "Naboth"  (Ratisbon  1609),  "Elias"  (Prague 
1610).  Or  historical  subjects  were  chosen:  "Julian 
the  Apostate"  (Ingolstadt  1608),  "Belisarius" 
(Munich  1607),  "Godfrey  de  Bouillon"  (Munich 
1596),  "St.  Ambrose",  "St.  Benno",  "St.  Henry  the 

1    Janssen,  vol.  VII,  pp.  120—121. 


1 68  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Emperor",  etc.1  Favorite  subjects  were  the  lives  of 
the  Saints  with  their  rich,  beautiful,  touching  and 
morally  ennobling  elements,  and  the  Christian  legends. 
In  these  the  Catholic  Church  has  preserved,  as  Profes- 
sor Paulsen  aptly  remarks,  a  poetical  treasure  which 
in  many  respects  surpasses  the  stories  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, both  in  purity  and  dramatic  applicability.2 

Many  of  their  dramas  were  exhibited  with  all  pos- 
sible splendor,  as  for  instance  those  given  at  La 
Fleche  in  1614  before  Louis  XIII.  and  his  court.3 
But  it  seems  that  nowhere  was  greater  pomp  displayed 
than  in  Munich,  where  the  Court  liberally  contributed 
to  make  the  performances  as  brilliant  as  possible.  In 
1574  the  tragedy  "Constantine"  was  played  on  two 
successive  days.  The  whole  city  was  beautifully 
decorated.  More  than  one  thousand  persons  took  part 
in  the  play.  Constantine,  after  his  victory  over 
Maxentius,  entered  the  city  on  a  triumphal  chariot, 
surrounded  by  400  horsemen  in  glittering  armor.  At 
the  performance  of  the  tragedy  "Esther"  in  1577,  the 
most  splendid  costumes,  gems,  etc.  were  furnished  from 
the  treasury^of  the  duke;  at  the  banquet  ofKingAssue- 
rus  1 60  precious  dishes  of  gold  and  silver  were  used. 4 

We  may  now  understand  the  following  assertions 
of  a  German  writer.  "The  Jesuits,  as  Richard  Wag- 

1  Titles  and  programmes  of  dramas  in  French  colleges 
by  Rochemonteix,  /.  c.y  vol.  Ill,  pp.  189— 195  and  215— 353. 
The  names  of  the  best  Jesuit  dramatists  are  given  by  Baum- 
gartner,   /.   c.,   vol.   IV,   pp.    627—637.  — Janssen,  /.  c.>   pp. 
130—134. 

2  Geschichte  des gelehrten  Unterrichts>  vol.  I,  p.  418. 

3  Rochemonteix,  /.  c.y  pp.  96—99. 

4  Janssen,  vol.  VII,  pp.  128—129. 


JKSUIT  COUvEGKS  BKFORK  THE)  SUPPRESSION.      169 

ner  in  our  own  days,  aimed  at  and  succeeded  in  unit- 
ing all  the  arts  within  the  compass  of  the  drama.  The 
effects  of  such  dramas  were,  like  those  of  the  Ober- 
ammergau  Passion  Play,  ravishing,  overpowering. 
Even  people  ignorant  of  the  Latin  tongue  were  trans- 
ported by  the  representations  of  subjects  usually  fam- 
iliar to  them,  as  at  present  no  one  travels  to  the  village 
of  Ammergau  to  be  edified  by  the  poetic  beauties  of 
the  text.  And  no  one  can  deny  that  the  liturgy  of  the 
Catholic  Church  makes  a  deep  impression,  even  on 
the  uncultured,  although  the  L,atin  language  is  un- 
known to  them.  It  is  in  the  first  place  the  power  of 
what  is  seen  that  affects  the  mind  so  forcibly. ' ' l 

The  concourse  of  people  was  often  immense.  In 
1565  *  "Judith"  was  played  before  the  court  in  Munich, 
and  then  repeated  before  the  people  on  a  public 
square ;  not  only  was  the  whole  square  densely 
crowded,  but  even  the  surrounding  walls  and  the  roofs 
of  the  houses  were  thickly  filled  with  eager  spectators. 
In  1560  the  comedy  "Euripus"  was  given  in  the 
court-yard  of  the  College  of  Prague  before  a  crowd  of 
more  than  8000  people.  The  play  had  to  be  repeated 
three  times,  and  when  further  exhibitions  were  de- 
manded, the  Rector  of  the  college  urgently  requested 
the  petitioners  to  desist  from  such  demands,  as  '  'after  all 
it  was  not  the  task  of  the  Society  to  exhibit  comedies. ' ' 

Catholic  writers  of  the  time  speak  enthusiastically 
of  the  salutary  effects  of  such  performances.  "They 
do  more  good  than  a  sermon",  writes  the  Italian 
physician  Guarinoni,  who  saw  many  Jesuit  dramas  at 

1  K.  Trautmann,  Ober- Ammergau  und  sein  Passions- 
spiel  (1890).  "This  play  is  an  offshoot  of  the  Munich  Jesuit 
drama",  p.  47. 


1 70  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

Hall  in  Tyrol.  At  Munich,  on  one  occasion,  in  1609, 
the  impression  of  a  play  —  it  was  "Cenodoxus,  the 
Doctor  of  Paris",  (or  the  "Conversion  of  St.  Bruno") 
—  was  overpowering.  A  spectator  wrote  that  a 
hundred  sermons  could  not  have  produced  the  same 
effect ;  fourteen  of  the  foremost  members  of  the  Bavarian 
court,  on  the  following  day,  withdrew  themselves  into 
solitude,  to  enter  upon  the  "Spiritual  Exercises"  of 
St.  Ignatius,  and  to  change  their  manner  of  life.1 

Protestant  preachers  lamented  that  "high  person- 
ages, princes  and  counts,  110  less  than  townspeople  and 
rustics  take  such  delight  in  the  dramas  of  the  Jesuits, 
contribute  money  to  them,  and  honor  the  actors, 
whereas  ours  have  nothing  of  the  kind.  Thus  the 
Jesuits  have  an  opportunity  of  propagating  their  idola- 
try and  of  gaining  the  good  will  even  of  the  Evan- 
gelicals. ' ' 2  This  result  would  certainly  have  been 
impossible,  if  the  Jesuit  dramas  had  contained  invec- 
tives against  non-Catholics.  They  were  free  from  in- 
sulting and  abusive  attacks  with  which  those  of  the 
other  side  were  teeming.  This  is  established  by  the 
standard  authors  on  this  subject,  Karl  von  Reinhard- 
stottner,  and  Holstein.  The  latter,  speaking  with 
offensive  and  bitter  language  of  the  Jesuit  dramas  as 
means  of  defending  "idolatry",  must  admit  that  their 
object  was  exclusively  pedagogical,  not  at  all  polem- 
ical. Another  Protestant,  Francke,  states  as  the  dif- 
ference between  Protestant  and  Catholic  school  dramas, 
that  the  former  sank  more  and  more  to  a  mere  form 
for  political  and  ecclesiastical  controversies,  chiefly 
directed  against  Popery,  whereas  the  Jesuits  were 

1  Jansseu,  vol.  VII,  p.  133. 

2  Janssen,  vol.  VII,  p.  125. 


JKSUIT  COUvKGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      171 

working  quietly  in  their  schools  and  performed  their 
biblical  and  historical  plays.  1 

That  not  all  dramatic  productions  of  the  Jesuits 
were  of  very  inferior  quality  may  again  be  inferred 
from  testimonies  of  competent  Protestant  critics.  K. 
von  Reinhardstb'ttner  writes:  "In  the  first  century  of 
their  history  the  Jesuits  did  great  work  in  this  line. 
They  performed  dramas  full  of  power  and  grandeur 
and  although  their  dramatic  productions  did  not  equal 
the  fine  lyrics  of  (the  Jesuits)  Balde  and  Sarbiewski, 
still  in  the  dramas  of  Fabricius,  Agricola  and  others 
there  is  unmistakably  poetic  spirit  and  noble  serious- 
ness. How  could  the  enormous  success  of  their  per- 
formances be  otherwise  explained?  ....  Who  could 
doubt  for  a  moment  that  the  Jesuits  by  their  dramas 
rendered  great  services  to  their  century,  that  they  ad-  V 
vanced  culture,  and  preserved  taste  for  the  theatre  and 
its  subsidiary  arts?  It  would  be  sheer  ingratitude  to 
undervalue  what  they  have  effected  by  their  drama. ' ' 2 

We  have  testimonies  proving  that  not  only  in  the 
first  century  of  its  existence  did  the  Order  produce 
good  plays,  but  that  it  kept  up  a  high  standard  to  the 
very  end.  One  witness  is  Goethe,  the  first  of  German 
writers,  assuredly  no  mean  critic  in  dramatic  matters. 
He  was  present  at  a  play  given  in  1786  at  Ratisbon, 
where  the  traditions  of  the  Jesuit  schools  were  kept  up 
after  the  suppression  of  the  Order.  He  bestows  high 
praise  on  the  performance  and  on  the  skill  with  which 
the  Jesuits  knew  how  to  make  the  various  arts  subser- 
vient to  their  dramatics.  3 

1  Quoted  by  Janssen,  vol.  VII,  pp.  120—121. 

2  Jausseu,  vol.  VII,  p.  133. 

8  Goethe  writes:  "This  public  performance  has  con- 
vinced me  anew  of  the  cleverness  of  the  Jesuits.  They  re- 


172  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

If  the  number  of  great  men  be  taken  as  a  just 
criterion  of  the  merit  of  an  educational  system,  the 
Society  could  exhibit  a  long  roll  of  pupils,  who  in 
their  after-life  were  among  the  most  prominent  men  in 
European  history:  poets  like  Calderon,  Tasso,  Cor- 
neille,  Moliere,  Fontenelle,  Goldoni,)  orators  like  Bos- 
suet;  scholars  like  Galileo,  Descartes,  Buffon,  Justus 
Lipsius,  Vico,  Muratori,  Montesquieu,  Malesherbes; 
statesmen  like  Richelieu  and  Emperor  Ferdinand; 
generals  like  Tilly,  Wallenstein  and  Conde;  Church 
dignitaries  like  the  great  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  Pope 
Benedict  XIV,  called  '  'the  most  learned  of  the  Popes. ' ' 
These  are  but  a  few  of  the  host  of  Jesuit  pupils  who 
rose  to  the  highest  distinction  in  Church  and  State,  or 
in  the  domain  of  science  and  literature.1  However, 
the  Society  does  not  lay  much  stress  on  the  fact  of 
having  educated  these  brilliant  men.  It  might  be  said 
with  Count  de  Maistre,  that  "Genius  is  not  the  pro- 
duction of  schools;  it  is  not  acquired  but  innate;  it 
recognizes  no  obligation  to  man;  its  gratitude  is  due 
to  the  creative  power  of  God."  Still,  a  system  of  edu- 

jected  nothing  that  could  be  of  any  conceivable  service  to 
them,  and  knew  how  to  wield  their  instruments  with  devo- 
tion and  dexterity.  This  is  not  cleverness  of  the  merely  ab- 
stract order :  it  is  a  real  fruition  of  the  thing  itself,  an  ab- 
sorbing interest,  which  springs  from  the  practical  use  of  life. 
Just  as  this  great  spiritual  society  has  its  organ  builders,  its 
sculptors,  and  its  gilders,  so  there  seem  to  be  some  who,  by 
nature  and  inclination,  take  to  the  drama;  and  as  their 
churches  are  distinguished  by  a  pleasing  pomp,  so  these 
prudent  men  have  seized  on  the  sensibility  of  the  world  by  a 
decent  theatre."  Italienische  Reise  (Goethe's  Werke,  Cotta's 
edition,  1840,  vol.  XXIII,  pp.  3—4). 

1  Many  more  are  commemorated  by  Cretineau-Joly, 
/.  £.,  vol.  IV,  ch.  III. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BKFORK  THE  SUPPRESSION.      173 

cation  may  contribute  much  to  foster  and  quicken  the 
development  of  genius.  But  the  Society  can  justly 
claim  to  have  made  excellent  men  of  pupils  with  only 
ordinary  abilities,  and  these  count  by  thousands,  nay 
by  hundreds  of  thousands:  lawyers,  professors,  state 
officials,  officers  of  the  army,  priests  and  bishops. 

Considering  the  number  and  work  of  the  Jesuit 
schools,  we  may  conclude  that  they  wielded  a  very 
great  influence  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies. This  influence  led  to  the  persecution  and 
finally  the  suppression  of  the  Order ;  not  as  if  the  Or- 
der had  abused  its  influence,  but  because  the  power 
which  the  Society  exercised  in  the  intellectual  and 
moral  world,  was  an  eye-sore  to  the  numerous  enemies 
of  the  Jesuits.  At  last,  after  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  hated  Order  fell  a  victim  to  the 
intrigues  of  its  opponents.  We  cannot  here  enter  on 
a  lengthy  account  of  the  history  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Society,  but  must  refer  the  reader  to  special  works 
on  this  subject. l  Suffice  it  to  mention  briefly  the 
opinions  of  a  few  impartial  witnesses. 

Prince  Hohenlohe  wrote  at  the  time  of  the  suppres- 
sion that  the  destruction  of  the  Order  was  uune  cabale 
in  female."2  Theiner,  who  was  a  bitter  enemy  of  the 
Society,  calls  the  suppression  a  "disgraceful  warfare, 
a  deplorable  drama,  in  which  too  many  impure  ele- 
ments played  a  leading  part. ' ' 3  Many  prominent 
Protestant  historians,  as  Ranke,  Schoell,  J.  v.  Miiller, 
Sismondi,  Leo,  declare  the  charges  brought  against 

See   particularly   the   series   of   articles   by   the   Rev. 
Sydney  Smith,  in  the  Month  (London),  1902. 

Letter  of  August  4,   1773,   in  the   Royal   Archives   at 
Munich. 

3     Geschichte  des  Pontificals  Clemens  XIV.,  vol.  I,  p.  3. 


174  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

the  Society  as  calumnies  of  its  enemies,  and  maintain 
that  the  suppression  of  the  Order  was  not  due  to  any 
crimes  of  the  Jesuits,  but  entirely  to  the  tyrannical 
violence  of  ministers  of  State.1  In  Portugal  it  was 
Pombal  who  aimed  at  separating  his  country  from 
Rome  and  introducing  infidelity;  the  Jesuits,  for  their 
unflinching  loyalty  to  the  Papacy  and  the  staunch 
defence  of  revealed  religion,  were  to  be  the  first  vic- 
tims. Pombal  hired  pamphleteers  to  calumniate  them 
systematically.  Spain  and  France  at  the  same  time 
began  to  persecute  the  Society.  In  the  latter  country 
the  Jansenists  and  Huguenots  had  always  borne  a 
deadly  hatred  to  the  Order.  The  names  of  the  chief 
enemies  of  the  Jesuits  show  clearly,  in  what  direction 
the  warfare  against  them  tended :  the  Duke  of  Choi- 
seul,  the  ill-famed  Madame  de  Pompadour,  Voltaire, 
d'Alembert  and  other  French  infidel  philosophers. 
They  had  always  regarded  the  Jesuits  as  the  most 
formidable  and  dangerous  enemies  of  their  revolution- 
ary designs.  Voltaire  wrote  to  Helvetius,  in  1761,  in 
a  tone  of  exultant  anticipation:  "Once  we  have  de- 
stroyed the  Jesuits,  that  '  infamous  thing '  (the 
Christian  religion)  will  be  only  child's  play  for  us."2 
However,  he  could  not  and  would  not  calumniate  the 
hated  Order  in  the  style  of  others  :  "While  doing  my 
very  best  to  realize  the  motto  :  Ecrasez  Vinfdme,  I  will 
not  stoop  to  the  meanness  of  defaming  the  Jesuits. 
The  best  years  of  my  life  have  been  spent  in  the 
schools  of  the  Jesuits,  and  while  there  I  have  never 
listened  to  any  teaching  but  what  was  good,  or  seen 

1  So  Korner  in  his  History  of  Pedagogy.  —  See  also  the 
Open  Court,  Chicago,  January  1902,  p.  21  foil. 

2  Alzog,  Church  History,  vol.  ill,  p.  566. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      175 

any  conduct  but  what  was  exemplary.  '  '  l  Neither 
could  J.  J.  Rousseau  be  induced  to  lend  his  pen  to 
decry  the  Society,  although  he  confessed  that  he  did 
not  like  the  Jesuits. 

Pope  Clement  XIV.  at  last  yielded  to  the  threats 
of  the  ministers  of  the  Bourbon  kings,  and  in  1773, 
by  a  Brief  he  suppressed  the  Society,  "in  order  to 
preserve  peace."  "This  letter",  says  a  Protestant 
historian,  "condemns  neither  the  doctrine,  nor  the 
morals,  of  the  Jesuits.  The  complaints  of  the  courts 
against  the  Order  are  the  only  motives  alleged  for  its 
suppression."2  When  recently  Sir  Henry  Howorth 
represented  this  Brief  as  an  infallible  ex-cathedra  pro- 
nouncement of  the  Pope,  he  thereby  showed  that  he  has 
not  even  the  most  elementary  notion  of  what  is  meant 
by  Papal  infallibility.  Succeeding  events  proved  that 

—  to  use  the  words  of  one  of  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits 

—  a  peace  treaty  was  struck  between  the  wolves  and 
the  shepherd,  and  that  the  latter  had  sacrificed  the 
best  watch-dogs  of  the  flock.     The  dreadful  French 
Revolution  opened  the  eyes  of  many  to  the  real  pur- 
port of  the  persecutions  of   the   Jesuits.      True,    the 
Church  is  not  built  on  the  Society,  but  on  the  rock  of 
Peter.     Still  the  Church  suffered  immensely  by  this 
sacrifice  of  its  most  zealous  defenders,  and  well  might 
Pope  Pius  VII.  ,  in  the  Bull  of  the  Restoration  of  the 
Society  in  1814,  speak  of  the  "dispersion  of  the  ver}^ 
stones   of   the   sanctuary,"   which   had   followed  the 
destruction    of     the     Society     and     the     consequent 
calamities. 


/.,  p.  570. 

2    Schoell,    Cours  d'histoire  des  Etats    europeens,    vol. 
XXXXIV,  p.  83. 


176  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  Protestant  and  a 
Schismatical  court  rendered  homage  to  the  services  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  gave  a  brilliant  testimony  to  their 
educational  abilities.  Frederick  the  Great,  King  of 
Prussia,  being  determined  to  preserve  them  in  his 
kingdom,1  wrote  to  Abbe  Columbini,  his  agent  at 
Rome,  a  letter  dated  from  Potsdam,  September  13, 
1773,  in  which  the  following  passage  occurs  :  "  I  am 
determined  that  in  my  kingdom  the  Jesuits  shall  con- 
tinue to  exist  and  maintain  their  ancient  form.  In 
the  treaty  of  Breslau  I  guaranteed  the  status  quo  of 
the  Catholic  religion ;  nor  have  I  ever  seen  better 
priests,  from  any  point  of  view,  than  the  Jesuits.  You 
may  add  that  since  I  belong  to  a  heretical  sect,  His 
Holiness  holds  no  power  to  dispense  me  from  the 
obligation  of  keeping  my  word,  or  from  my  duty  as 
a  king  and  an  honest  man."2  On  May  i5th,  1774, 
writing  to  d'Alembert,  who  was  dissatisfied  that  the 
Jesuits  were  not  completely  exterminated,  and  feared 
that  other  kings  moved  by  the  example  of  Prussia 
might  demand  of  Frederick  seed  to  cultivate  in  their 
own  kingdoms,  he  replied  :  "I  view  them  only  as  men 
of  letters,  whose  place  in  the  instruction  of  youth  it 
would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  supply.  Of  the 
Catholic  clergy  of  this  country  they  alone  apply  them- 
selves to  literature.  This  renders  them  so  useful  and 
necessary  that  you  need  not  fear  any  one  shall  obtain 
from  me  a  single  Jesuit."  In  1770  he  had  written  in 

1  See  documents  given  by  Zalenski,  Les  Jesuites  de  la 
Russie-Blanchey  vol.  I,  livre  II,  ch.  IV,  "Frederic     II.  et  les 
Je*suites."  Frederick  strictly  forbade  the  Bishops  of  his  king- 
dom to  promulgate  the  Papal  Brief  of  suppression. 

2  Maynard,   The  Study  and  Teaching  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  p.  246. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      177 

similar  terms  to  Voltaire.  Speaking  of  Pope  Clem- 
ent XIV.,  he  says:  "For  my  own  part  I  have  no 
reason  to  complain  of  him ;  he  leaves  me  my  dear 
Jesuits,  whom  they  are  persecuting  everywhere.  I  will 
save  the  precious  seed,  for  those  who  should  wish  to 
cultivate  a  plant  so  rare."  On  May  i5th,  1775,  he 
wrote  to  d'Alembert :  "In  their  misfortune  I  see  in 
them  nothing  but  scholars  whose  place  in  the  education 
of  youth  can  hardly  be  supplied  by  others. ' '  Again 
on  Aug.  5,  1775  :  "For  the  good  Jesuit  Fathers  I  have 
a  d —  tenderness,  not  as  far  as  they  are  monks  but  as 
educators  and  scholars,  whose  services  are  useful  to 
civil  society. ' '  Now,  if  the  Jesuits  were  dangerous  to 
the  welfare  of  the  state,  as  their  enemies  make  them, 
how  strange  that  the  Atheist  on  the  Prussian  throne, 
the  shrewdest  and  most  keen-sighted  monarch  of  his 
time,  should  have  failed  to  see  it?  But  he  was  not  the 
man  to  let  himself  be  influenced  by  silly  prejudices. 

The  second  ruler  of  Europe  who  endeavored  to 
protect  the  Society  was  Catharine  II.,  Empress  of 
;Russia.2  In  1783  she  wrote  to  Pope  Pius  VI.  "that 
;she  was  resolved  to  maintain  these  priests  for  the  wel- 
fare of  her  states  against  any  power,  whatsoever  it 
;was. "  In  the  same  year  the  Russian  court  in  a  note 
to  Mgr.  Archetti,  Papal  Nuncio  to  Poland,  thus  ex- 
pressed its  sentiments  on  the  Jesuits:  "The  Roman 
Catholics  of  the  Russian  Empire,  having  given  un- 
equivocal proofs  of  their  loyalty  to  the  Empress,  have 
thereby  acquired  a  right  to  the  confirmation  of  their 
former  privileges.  Of  this  number  is  the  instruction 
of  youth,  which  has  heretofore  been  committed  to  the 

1  Lettre  d,   Voltaire,  7.  Juillet,    1770.     Oeuvres  de    Vol- 
taire, torn.  XII. 

2  See  Zaleiiski,  /.  c.,  pp.  239—429. 

12 


178  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Jesuits.  The  zeal  animating  these  religious,  and  the 
success  crowning  their  efforts,  have  been  marked  by 
the  Imperial  Government  with  the  utmost  satisfaction. 
Would  it  be  just  to  deprive  the  inhabitants  of  White 
Russia  of  this  precious  Institution  ?  In  other  countries 
where  the  Order  was  suppressed,  no  substitutes  have 
been  found.  And  why  single  out  for  destruction, 
among  the  many  religious  orders,  that  which  devotes 
itself  to  the  education  of  youth,  and  consequently  to 
the  public  welfare?"  1V  V 

These  testimonies  refute  also  a  charge  sometimes 
made  even  by  Catholic  writers.    Theiner,  for  instance, 
asserts  or  implies  that,  for  a  space  of  time  preceding 
the  suppression,  the  Society  had  fallen  away  from  the 
station  it  had  held  originally  in  literary  and  educational 
matters,  that  their  system  had  become  useless  to  the 
interests  of  science,   that  education  suffered  in  their 
hands,  that  youth  issued  from  their  colleges   unpro- 
tected  against  the   assaults    of    error,    etc. 2      These 
charges  are  ably  refuted  by  Abbe  Maynard  in  his  work 
just  quoted :   The  Studies  and  Teaching  of  the   Society 
of  Jesus  at  the  Time  of  its  Suppression  1750-73.      But 
as  we  said,  the  appreciation  of  the  Jesuits'  educational 
labors,  as  shown  by  Frederick  II.  and  Catharine  II. , 
exonerates  them  completely.       These   two   were  the 
most  sagacious  monarchs  of  Europe  at  the  time,  and 
what  could  have  influenced  them,   atheists  as  they 
were,  to  show  such  favors  to  the  persecuted  Society, 
had  it  not  been  its  superiority  as  an  educating  body  ? 
All  attempts  to  weaken  the  testimonies  of  the  words 
and   actions   of    these   two   rulers  have  proved    un- 
successful. s 

1  Maynard,  /.  £.,  p.  240. 

2  History  of  the  Pontificate  of  Clement  XIV. 

3  Most  flattering  testimonies  as  to  the  educational  sue- 


JKSUIT  COW,EG£S  BKFORK  THE  SUPPRESSION.      179 

Besides,  Maynard  points  out  in  detail  that  the 
Jesuits  at  that  time  had  among  their  number  hundreds 
of  able  writers  in  all  branches  of  learning.  The 
Society  could  boast  of  great  mathematicians  and  scien- 
tists, as  the  famous  Roger  Boscovich  (t  1787),  who 
was  despatched  by  the  Royal  Society  of  I/ondon  to 
California  to  observe  the  second  transit  of  Venus. 
During  the  heat  of  the  French  Revolution  the  French 
astronomer  L,alande,  who  took  pride  in  the  title  "the 
atheist  astronomer",  ventured  to  write  Father  Bosco- 
vich's  eulogy  in  the  u Journal  of  Men  of  Science" 
(February  1792).  Then  there  was  Maximilian  Hell 
(t  1792),  for  thirty-six  }^ears  director  of  the  Imperial 
Observatory  at  Vienna.  In  1768  he  was  invited  by 
Christian  VII.,  King  of  Denmark,  to  observe  in  Lap- 
land the  transit  of  Venus.  Of  the  result  of  Father 
Hell's  expedition  Lalande  wrote:  "This  was  one  of 
the  five  complete  observations  made  at  great  distances 
apart. ' '  1  Father  Hell  was  a  worthy  successor  to  the 

cess  of  the  Jesuits  in  Russia  and  Galicia,  at  the  time  of  the 
suppression,  are  given  by  Zalenski,  Les  J&suites  de  la  Russie 
Blanche,  Paris  1886. 

1  Bibliogr.  Astron.,  1792,  p.  722;  see  Maynard,  p.  205.— 
For  many  decades  it  was  suspected  that  Father  Hell  had 
tampered  with  the  figures  of  his  observations  after  others  had 
been  published,  so  as  to  make  his  square  with  the  rest.  In 
the  Atlantic  Monthly ',  Nov.  1900,  Professor  Simon  Newcomb, 
of  the  Washington  Naval  Observatory,  completely  exonerates 
Father  Hell  from  this  malicious  charge.  The  distinguished 
American  Astronomer,  who  professes  in  his  article  a  personal 
affection  for  the  Jesuit  scientist,  has  examined  the  manu- 
scripts of  Father  Hell,  in  Vienna,  and  found  that  the  accusa- 
tion was  groundless,  and  based  on  the  assertion  of  a  man 
whose  sight  was  defective.  Professor  Newcomb  further 
affirms  that  Father  Hell's  observations  gave  figures  st>me what 


l8O  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

great  Jesuit  astronomers  and  mathematicians  Clavius, 
Kirch er,  Riccioli,  Scheiner,  Grimaldi,  and  a  precursor 
of  the  famous  Father  Secchi,  one  of  the  greatest  astron- 
omers, at  least  in  spectroscopy,  of  the  nineteenth 
century, 

Lalande,  in  his  Bibliographic  Astronomique,  enum- 
erates forty-five  Jesuit  astronomers  and  eighty-nine 
astronomical  publications  for  the  short  period  of  1750 
— 1773.  The  same  author,  in  the  continuation  of 
Montucla's  History  of  Mathematics,  pays  the  following 
tribute  to  the  Society:  "Here  I  must  remark  to  the 
honor  of  this  learned  and  cruelly  persecuted  Society, 
that  in  several  colleges  it  possessed  observatories,  for 
instance  in  Marseilles,  Avignon,  Lyons,  etc."  There 
were  other  observatories  in  Rome,  Florence,  Milan, 
in  fact  in  every  country  where  Jesuits  had  colleges. 
Of  Germany  and  Austria,  L,alande  remarks  :  " There 
were  in  Germany  and  the  neighboring  countries  few 
large  colleges  of  the  Society  which  had  no  observa- 
tory. "  He  mentions  those  of  Vienna,  Tyrnau,  Ingol- 
stadt,  Graz,  Breslau,  Olmiitz,  Prague,  etc.,  and  speaks 
highly  of  the  scientific  work  done  by  the  Jesuit 
astronomers.  He  adds  that  after  the  ' '  deplorable 
catastrophe  of  the  Society, ' '  most  of  these  observatories 
shared  the  fate  of  the  Order. a 

Quite  recently  Professor  Giinther  of  Munich 2  called 

different  from  those  of  other  astronomers,  but  that  recent 
discoveries  have  proved  the  Jesuit's  observations  to  have  been 
the  more  correct  ones. 

1  Histoire  des  Math£matiquesy  par  J.  F.  Montucla,  tome 
IV,  acheve"  et  publi£  par  Jgrdme  de  la  Lande,  Paris,  1802, 
pp.  347  foil. 

2  Bibliotheca  Mathematica,    Zeitschrift  fur  Geschichte 
der  mathematischen     IVissenschaften,    3.    Folge,    3.    Band, 
2.  Heft,  1902  (lyeipzig,  Teubner),  pp.  208—225. 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      l8l 

attention  to  the  important  scientific  works  of  three 
Jesuits  of  that  period,  three  relatives  of  the  name 
Zallinger:  John  Baptist,  Professor  in  the  Jesuit  college 
at  Innsbruck,  who  wrote  a  remarkable  treatise  on 
the  growth  of  plants;  James  Anton,  Professor  in 
Munich,  Dillingen,  Innsbruck,  and  Augsburg,  a  zeal- 
ous defender  of  the  Newtonian  system,  who  "published 
works  of  such  importance  that  it  is  surprising  that 
they  could  have  been  buried  in  oblivion."  The 
greatest  of  the  three  was  Francis  Zallingerv  who  pub- 
lished several  important  works  with  new  views,  which 
partly  are  held  at  present,  on  electricity,  meteorology, 
mechanics,  and  with  particular  success  on  hydrology. 
Professor  Giinther  repeatedly  expresses  his  astonish- 
ment that  such  works  could  have  been  so  completely 
ignored,  that  no  modern  work  on  the  history  of  sciences 
does  justice  to  them.  Very  few  mention  the  names 
of  these  writers.  We  may  be  convinced  that  careful 
research  will  bring  to  light  many  more  distinguished 
Jesuit  scientists  of  that  period. 

Also  in  literature,  shortly  before  the  suppression, 
the  Jesuits  had  among  their  numbers  distinguished 
writers.  Father  Tiraboschi  (|  1794)  wrote  the 
History  of  Italian  Literature,  in  thirteen  volumes,  up 
to  this  day  one  of  the  most  valuable  works  on  this 
subject.  In  France,  men  like  Father  Poree  and  many 
others  were  admired  even  by  Voltaire  for  their  literary 
accomplishments.  In  Germany,  the  Jesuit  Denis 
(t  1800)  rendered  the  so-called  poems  of  Ossian  into 
his  native  tongue,  and  this  with  such  success  as  to  win 
the  highest  praise  from  Goethe.  About  this  time 
Father  Hervas  began  to  write  his  great  "Catalogue  of 
Languages",  of  which  we  spoke  before.  But  as  we 


1 82  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

are  not  writing  a  literary  history  of  the  Society,  it  is 
enough  to  have  mentioned  these  few  names.  A  host 
of  other  distinguished  men,  who  flourished  towards 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  may  be  found  in 
Abbe  Maynard's  work.  Thus  the  assertion  that  the 
Society  had  become  useless  to  science  and  literature, 
is  a  pure  calumny. 

As  groundless  is  the  charge  that  the  Jesuits  had 
failed  in  their  lofty  mission  with  respect  to  teaching. 
We  have  heard  what  Frederick  II.  and  Catharine  II. 
thought  of  them.  Most  of  the  celebrated  writers 
mentioned  before  were  engaged  as  teachers  in  the 
collegiate  or  university  establishments  of  the  Order. 
A  cloud  of  witnesses  stands  forth  to  testify  that  the 
work  of  education  was  carried  on  with  unabated  zeal 
and  with  great  success,  not  only  in  languages  and 
literature,  but  also  in  mathematics  and  sciences.  Thus 
Deslandes,  commissary  of  the  navy  at  Brest,  testified, 
in  1748,  that  the  Jesuits  had  furnished  the  navy  ex- 
cellent professors  of  mathematics. 1 

It  may  be  well  to  quote  what  the  historian  of  the 
University  of  Paris  has  to  say  about  the  educational 
labors  of  the  Society  in  France  up  to  the  time  of  its 
suppression  :  "If  one  rises  above  prejudices  and  nar- 
row professional  jealousies,  how  can  one  deny  the 
eminent  services  which  the  Society  rendered  to  youth 
and  the  family,  from  its  reestablishment  under 
Henry  IV.  ?  Those  of  its  enemies  who  want  to  be 
impartial  and  sincere  admit  that  its  colleges  were  well 
conducted,  that  the  discipline  was  at  once  firm  and 
mild,  strict  and  paternal ;  that  the  scholastic  routine 
was  improved  by  wise  innovations,  cleverly  adapted 

1    De  Badts  de  Cugnac,  Les  Jesuites  et  V education,  p.  11. 


JESUIT  COWvEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      183 

to  the  progress  in  manners  and  social  demands ;  that 
the  teachers  were  unassuming,  devoted  to  their  work, 
well  instructed,  and  for  the  greater  part  masters  in  the 
ait  of  elevating  youth  ;  some  were  perfect  humanists, 
others,  scientists  of  the  first  rank,  so  regular  in  their 
lives  that  never  has  any  reproach  of  misdemeanor  been 
uttered  against  them.     Should  one  say  that,  in  spite 
of  showy  appearances,  the  education  given   by  the 
Jesuits  lacked  solidity,  that  they  too  often  substituted 
frivolous  practices  or  worldly  exercises   for    serious 
work,  —  a  charge  frequently  made  by  the  University 
—  the  Jesuits  could  answer  by  pointing  to  their  pupils 
who,  held  honorable  positions  in  the  domain  of  science 
and  literature,  at  the  court  and  in  the  armies,  in  the 
ranks  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  among  the  nobility.  .  .  . 
As  instructors  of  youth,  the  Jesuits  were  above  re- 
proach, and  more  worthy  of  recommendation  than  of 
persecution.  .  .  .    We  do  not  inquire  whether  in  other 
roles  played  by  the  disciples  of  St.  Ignatius,  they  did 
not  allow  themselves  to  be  carried  away  to  excesses  of 
pride,   ambition,  and   intolerance,    which  necessarily 
brought  upon  them  cruel  retaliation ;    in  connection 
with  our  subject,  suffice  it  to  state  that  in  the  field  of 
studies  and  public  education,  their  activity  was,  in 
general,  beneficial.     The  inexorable  sentence  which 
suddenly  destroyed  their  colleges  is  explained,  from 
the  historical  point  of  view,  by  the  prejudices  and 
the  hatred  existing  against  the  Society.      But  after 
having  related  the  biased   acclamations   of   contem- 
poraries, must  this  sentence,  so  sadly  renowned,  be 
confirmed  by  the  equitable  judgment  of  history?     We 
think  not ;  for  it  is  against  truth  and  justice  in  many 
regards,  and,  as  the  events  that  followed  have  proved, 


1 84  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

it  served  neither  the  Church,  nor  the  State,  nor  even 
the  University,  in  spite  of  the  hopes  which  the  latter 
had  based  on  the  ruin  of  its  adversaries. ' ' l  The  author, 
in  the  chapter  following,  then  describes  the  fatal  con- 
sequences for  education  in  France,  resulting  from  the 
destruction  of  the  Society. 

This  much  is  certain  that  it  was  not  its  inability, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  its  great  success  for  which  the 
Society  was  doomed  by  the  Catos  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  whose  ceterum  censeo  was  that  the  hated 
-Order  was  to  be  destroyed.  What  the  Jesuits  had  been 
doing  for  education  and  learning  became  apparent 
after  the  destruction  of  their  Order,  and  it  was  openly 
declared  by  many  that  the  ruin  of  the  Society  was 
followed  by  a  fatal  decline  of  learning  among  the 
Catholics.  The  Bishops  of  France  represented  to  the 
King,  that  ''the  dispersion  of  the  Jesuits  had  left  a 
lamentable  void  in  the  functions  of  the  sacred  min- 
istry and  the  education  of  youth,  to  which  they  con- 
secrated their  talents  and  their  labors."2  In  1803 
Abbe  Emery  wrote  :  ''The  Jesuits  have  been  expelled, 
their  system  of  teaching  has  been  rejected.  But  what 
substitutes  for  them  have  we  discovered,  and  in  what 
have  the  new  theories  resulted  ?  Are  the  youth  better 
instructed,  or  their  morals  purer  ?  Their  presumptuous 
ignorance  and  depravity  force  us  to  sigh  for  the  old 
masters  and  the  old  ways. ' ' 3 

About  the  same  time  Chateaubriand  in  his  famous 
work,  The  Genius  of  Christianity,  exclaimed:  "In  the 

1  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  r  Universite  de  Paris,  vol.  II, 
pp.  298—300. 

2  Abbe  Maynard,  /.  c.,  p.  237. 

3  Pensees  de  Leibnitz,  p.  429.     (Maynard,  /.  <:.,  p.  238.) 


JESUIT  COIylyKGKS  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.      185 

destruction  of  the  Jesuits  learned  Europe  has  suffered 
an  irreparable  loss.  Since  that  unhappy  event  educa- 
tion has  never  been  in  a  state  of  prosperity. ' '  And  in 
his  Melanges  he  expresses  himself  to  the  same  effect : 
"The  Jesuits  maintained  and  were  increasing  their 
reputation  to  the  last  moment  of  their  existence.  Their 
destruction  has  inflicted  a  deadly  wound  on  education 
and  letters  :  as  to  this,  at  the"  present  time,  there  is  no 
diversity  of  opinion."  And  even  Theiner  does  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  *  'the  wound  inflicted  on  education 
was  incurable."1  In  L,ord  Stanhope's  conversation 
with  the  great  Duke  of  Wellington  we  find  a  striking 
passage  on  the  same  subject.  Speaking  at  Walmer  in 
October  1833,  the  Duke  said  to  L,ord  Mahon  :  "On  the 
whole  I  think  it  is  very  doubtful  whether,  since  the 
suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  the  system  of  education  has 
been  as  good,  or  whether  as  remarkable  men  have 
appeared.  I  am  quite  sure  that  they  have  not  in  the 
south  of  Europe.  It  was  a  great  mistake. " 2  In 
Treves  the  Jesuits  possessed,  besides  the  novitiate  and 
the  university,  a  flourishing  college.  When  the  news  of 
the  suppression  of  the  Society  arrived,  the  Archbishop 
Elector,  Clement  Wenceslaus  of  Poland,  is  said  to 
have  exclaimed:  "Cecidit  corona  capitis  nostri^ — "The 
crown  of  our  head  is  fallen;"3  and,  as  the  historian 
of  the  Royal  Gymnasium  of  Treves  adds,  his  outcry  of 
sorrow  was  justified.  A  few  years  after  the  Jesuits  had 
left  the  college,  the  pernicious  leaven  of  French  in- 
fidelity had  permeated  the  faculty  and  was  undermin- 
ing the  faith  of  the  young. 

1     Maynard,  /.  c.,  p.  242. 

:    Notes  of  Conversations  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
by  the  Earl  of  Stanhope,  L,ondou,  Murray,  1888,  p.  42. 

5    Historisches  Jahrbuch,  Munich  1885,  vol.  VI,  p.  420. 


1 86  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

And  such  was  the  case  everywhere.  German 
scepticism,  French  atheism,  Jansenism,  and  Josephism 
began  to  reign  supreme.  Let  us  add  here  that  the 
Protestant  cause  was  never  strengthened  by  any  per- 
secution of  the  Society;  the  only  gainer  was  always 
infidelity.  The  statement  of  Mr.  Browning,  that  the 
governments  on  the  whole  have  done  well  to  suppress 
the  Jesuit  colleges,1  is  proved  utterly  false  by  history. 
At  the  same  time  it  advocates  an  intolerable  state 
absolutism.  If  parents  wish  to  send  their  children  to 
the  schools  of  the  Jesuits,  and  of  religious  in  general, 
it  is  a  violation  of  parental  rights,  and  an  infringement 
of  religious  and  political  liberty,  to  make  the  attain- 
ment of  such  wishes  impossible.  In  the  light  of  this 
consideration,  the  legislation  of  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau, 
and  the  recent  proceedings  against  the  teaching  con- 
gregations in  France  must  appear  to  all  fair-minded 
men  as  tyranny  and  a  new  "reign  of  terror". 

To  all  students  of  history  who  are  not  blinded  by 
fanatical  hatred,  the  downfall  of  such  a  society  of  men 
who  had  devoted  their  lives  to  the  propagation  of 
religion  and  the  advancement  of  science,  must  appear 
most  pathetic.  Such  it  appeared  to  the  atheist  astron- 
omer Lalande.  *  'The  mention  of  a  Jesuit, ' '  he  writes, 
"awakens  all  the  feelings  of  my  heart,  my  mind  and 
my  gratitude.  It  harrows  all  my  sore  feelings  at  the 
blindness  of  the  ministers  of  1762.  Mankind  has  ir- 
retrievably lost,  and  will  never  recover,  that  precious 
and  surprising  union  of  twenty-two  thousand  individ- 
uals, devoted  incessantly  and  disinterestedly  to  the 
functions  of  teaching,  preaching,  missions,  to  duties 
most  serviceable  and  dearest  to  humanity.  Retire- 

1     Encyclopedia  Britannica,  article  ' 'Education", 


JESUIT  COLLEGES  BEFORE  THE  SUPPRESSION.     187 

ment,  frugality,  and  the  renunciation  of  pleasure, 
constituted  in  that  Society  the  most  harmonious  con- 
cord of  science  and  virtue.  I  had  personal  knowledge 
of  them :  they  were  an  assemblage  of  heroes  for 
religion  and  humanity. ' ' l 

We  close  this  chapter  with  the  following  sym- 
pathetic lines  of  a  recent  writer:  "The  rise  of  the 
Jesuits  had  been  astonishing.  Their  fall  was  august. 
Annihilation  could  not  shake  their  constancy.  No 
tempests  of  misfortune  could  attaint  their  magnificent 
obedience.  Defamation,  incarceration,  banishment, 
starvation,  death,  unthankfulness,  fell  upon  them, 
and  could  not  alter,  and  could  not  dismay.  To  the 
cabals  of  courtiers  and  the  frenzy  of  kings,  to  the 
laugh  of  triumphing  harlots,  and  the  rebuke  of  solemn 
hypocrites,  to  the  loud-voiced  joy  of  the  heretic  and 
the  unbeliever,  to  the  poisonous  sneer  of  banded  sec- 
taries, exulting  in  their  secret  confederation,  to  the 
gibes  of  traitors,  to  the  burning  sympathies  of  un- 
purchased  and  unpurchasable  multitudes,  the  only 
response  of  the  Jesuits  was  superb  and  indomitable 
duty.  Girt  round  by  cruelty  and  frivolity,  more  cruel 
still ;  as  in  the  centre  of  a  vast  amphitheatre  of  the 
antique  which  they  had  taught  so  well,  they  remained 
as  high  resolved,  as  unflinching  as  Sebastian  before 
the  archers  of  the  Palatine,  or  the  virgin  Blandina 
amid  the  beasts  at  L,yons.  It  was  hardly  a  marvel 
that  the  victorious  monarch  of  Prussia,  outside  the 
Church  though  he  was,  but  accustomed  to  see  men 
die  at  the  call  of  honor  and  discipline,  half  owned 
a  thrill  of  warrior  emotion,  and  paid  a  captain's 

1  Quoted  in  the  Annales  Philosophiques,  Morales,  et 
Littiraires,  by  M.  de  Boulogne,  vol.  I,  p.  221. 


1 88  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

salutation,  to  that  infrangible,  that  devoted  army. 
The  Jesuits  were  not  only  the  ablest  of  Renaissance 
schoolmaster  Sj  they  were  great  priests,  great  mission- 
aries, great  civilizers,  great  practicians  of  the  supreme 
art  of  persuading  and  leading  men.  And  the  sentence 
of  destruction  smote  them  in  the  midst  of  their  activ- 
ity, in  a  hundred  regions  where  they  had  become 
indispensable  or  almost  impossible  to  replace.  . .  Never 
was  such  a  famous  company  of  scholars  in  all  the 
records  of  former  civilizations,  deep-read  in  philoso- 
phies ;  famous  for  sacred  eloquence ;  masters  of  lan- 
guages, editors  of  the  lore  of  antiquity,  of  the  writers 
of  Byzantium,  of  the  obscure  dialects  of  Malaysia  and 
the  Upper  Amazon  ;  historians,  philologists,  restorers 
of  chronology.  .  .  To  gain  the  lying  promise  of  a 
lying  peace,  they  were  demanded  as  a  holocaust  to 
the  licentious  puppets  on  the  thrones  of  the  Bourbons, 
to  the  dark  powers  behind  the  veils  of  the  lodge.  And 
their  loss  to  civilization,  their  loss  to  France,  was  not 
to  be  computed  even  by  the  largest  enumeration  of 
what  they  had  done,  and  what  they  were  capable  of 
doing.  The  Christendom  to  which  they  had  become 
so  necessary,  and  which  in  an  hour  was  forced  to  do 
without  them,  was  yet  to  learn  the  unspeakable  sig- 
nificance of  such  a  deprivation.  In  proportion  to  the 
services  of  the  Jesuits  was  the  void  of  their  disappear- 
ance, the  calamity  of  their  fall.  When  main  pillars 
of  an  edifice  are  shattered,  more  may  be  shattered 
than  the  pillars  alone. ' '  * 

1     The  London   Tablet,  Dec.  7,  1901,  p.  884. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Revised  Ratio  of  1832  and  Later  Regulations. 

The  Society  had  been  suppressed  by  Clement  XIV. 
The  historian  Dr.  Briick  says:  "The  Pope's  conduct 
was  harsh  and  unjust' ' ,  as  he  had  not  a  single  crime  to 
lay  to  their  charge; l  and  even  Dr.  Dollinger,  how- 
ever hostile  to  the  Society,  must  have  considered  its 
suppression  unjust;  for  he  calls  its  restoration  an  act 
of  justice.2  Documentary  evidence  proves  that  the 
Jesuits  heroically  submitted.  Even  in  Silesia,  where 
Frederick  II.  wanted  to  maintain  them,  "they  were 
unwilling  to  hold  out  against  the  papal  bull",3  and 
laying  aside  whatever  was  specifically  characteristic  of 
the  Society,  they  directed  the  schools  as  secular  priests. 
Catharine  II.  of  Russia  stubbornly  refused  to  allow  the 
Papal  Brief  of  suppression  to  be  published  in  her 
dominions.  As  the  publication  was  required  before 
the  Brief  could  take  effect,  the  Jesuits  continued  their 
work  in  the  two  colleges  at  Mohilev  and  Polotzk  in 
White  Russia.  Five  years  after  the  suppression,  in 
1778,  the  new  Pope  Pius  VI.  granted  them  permis- 
sion to  establish  a  novitiate.  Thus,  as  Frederick  II. 

1  History  of  the  Catholic  Church,  (Bngl.  transl.)  vol.  II, 
p.  306. 

2  See  Historische  Zeitschrift,  1900,  vol.  I^XXXIV,  p.  300. 
1    Alzog,  Church  History,  vol.  Ill,  p.  571.     Against  Thei- 

ner's  charge  of  disobedience  see  Zalenski,  Les  Jesuites  de  la 
Russie  Blanche,  vol.  I,  pp.  169—213. 

(189) 


igO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

expressed  it,  "the  seed  had  been  preserved  for  those 
who  should  wish  to  cultivate  a  plant  so  rare."  In 
1 80 1,  Pius  VII. ,  the  successor  of  Pius  VI.,  allowed 
the  Jesuits  to  establish  themselves  as  a  Congregation 
in  Russia,  and  in  1804  he  authorized  the  introduction 
of  this  Congregation  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Two 
Sicilies. 

At  length,  in  1814,  Pius  VII.,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated by  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits,  reestablished  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  The  Pope  gives  as  the  motive  of 
this  step,  that  "he  acted  on  the  demand  of  all  Catholic 
Christendom".  "We  should  deem  ourselves  guilty 
of  a  great  crime  towards  God,  if  amidst  the  dangers  of 
the  Christian  republic,  we  neglected  the  aids  which 
the  special  providence  of  God  has  put  at  our  disposal; 
and,  if  placed  in  the  bark  of  Peter,  tossed  and  assailed 
by  continual  storms,  we  refuse  to  employ  the  vigorous 
and  experienced  rowers  who  volunteer  their  services, 
in  order  to  break  the  waves  of  a  sea  which  threatens 
every  moment  shipwreck  and  death. "  l  In  this  Bull, 
Pius  VII.  expressly  says:  "We  declare  besides,  and 
grant  power  that  they  may  freely  and  lawfully  apply 
themselves  to  the  education  of  youth  in  the  principles 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  to  form  them  to  good  morals, 
and  to  direct  colleges  and  seminaries. ' ' 

The  Society  immediately  took  up  this  work  so  dear 
to  its  founder  and  ever  cherished  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Old  Society.  New  fields  had  been  opened  in  the 
meantime  for  establishing  colleges,  especially  in  Eng- 
land and  her  dependencies,  and  in  the  United  States 
of  America. 

1  The  Papal  Bull:  Sollicitudo  omnium  ecclesiarum.  This 
Bull  and  that  of  the  suppression  of  the  Society  are  translated 
in  the  Protestant  Advocate,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  13  and  153  etc. 


REVISED  RATIO  OF  1832  AND  LATER  REGULATIONS.    IQI 

As  regards  the  system  of  studies  it  was  found 
necessary,  soon  after  the  restoration  of  the  Society, 
to  accommodate  the  Ratio  to  the  new  conditions  of 
the  time.  The  changes  were  undertaken  with  the 
same  calm  circumspection  with  which  the  old  Ratio 
had  been  drawn  up  under  Father  Aquaviva.  As 
early  as  1820  suggestions  and  observations  were  sent 
to  Rome  from  the  different  provinces.  In  1830,  the 
General  of  the  Society,  Father  Roothaan,1  himself  an 
excellent  classical  scholar  and  experienced  teacher, 
summoned  to  Rome  representatives  of  all  the  pro- 
vinces. After  careful  deliberations  the  Revised  Ratio 
appeared  in  1832.  It  was  not  a  new  system;  nothing 
had  been  changed  in  the  essentials,  in  the  fundamen- 
tal principles.  It  was  an  adaptation  to  modern  exigen- 
cies of  the  old  methods  which  had  been  approved  by 
such  great  success  in  former  times. 

The  changes  referred  mainly  to  those  branches  of 
study,  which  had  become  important  in  the  course  of 
time.  In  the  colleges  L,atin  and  Greek  should  remain 
the  principal  subjects,  but  more  time  and  care  should 
henceforth  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  mother- 
tongue  and  its  literature,  although  this  had  by  no 
means  been  neglected  in  the  Old  Society.2  Thus  to 
the  23.  Rule  of  the  Provincial  was  added:  "He  shall 
take  great  care  that  the  pupils  [in  the  colleges  of  his 
Province]  are  thoroughly  instructed  in  their  mother- 
tongue,  and  he  shall  assign  to  each  class  the  amount 

1  J.  A.  Thym,  S.  J.,  Life  of  Father  Roothaan.  (In  Dutch; 
German  Translation  by  Jos.  Martin,  S.  J.)  pp.  110—113. 

!  See  above  pp.  129—131,  and  the  chapter  on  the  study 
of  the  mother-tongue  injouvancy's  Ratio  Disc,  et  Doc.,  part  I, 
ch.  I,  §  3.  —  Woodstock  Letters,  1894,  p.  309.  —  Father  Duhr, 
Studienordnung  y  pp.  107 — 118. 


IQ2  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  kind  of  work  to  be  done."  The  speaking  of 
Latin  in  the  lower  classes  was  no  longer  possible; 
special  care  of  idiom  in  translating  is  recommended, 
as  also  correctness  of  pronunciation  of  the  mother- 
tongue.  In  the  higher  classes  the  cultivation  of  style 
in  the  vernacular,  according  to  the  best  models,  is  in- 
sisted on.  The  rules  concerning  dramatic  perfor- 
mances are  left  out;  exhibitions  are  neither  encouraged 
nor  forbidden.  In  the  report  of  the  commission  it  is 
said  that,  if  dramas  are  given,  they  should  be*  in  the 
vernacular.1  For  the  grammar  classes,  other  authors 
are  introduced;  in  the  highest  grammar  class,  Sallust, 
Curtius  and  L,ivy  are  read  besides  Cicero,  the  elements 
of  mythology  and  archaeology  are  to  be  taught. 
Xenophoii  takes  the  place  of  Aesop  and  Agapetus. 
In  the  middle  grammar  class  Caesar  is  added;  in  the 
lowest,  Cornelius  Nepos.2 

As  mathematics  and  natural  sciences,  history 
and  geography  claimed  more  attention,  the  Revised 
Ratio  prescribed  accordingly  that  more  time  should  be 
devoted  to  these  branches,3  although  they  were  to  be 
considered  rather  as  "accessories"  in  the  literary  cur- 
riculum. For  the  study  of  more  advanced  mathe- 
matics and  of  natural  sciences  was  even  then  thought 
to  belong  properly  to  the  course  of  philosophy.  Still 
the  new  Ratio  left  to  Provincial  Superiors  considerable 
liberty  in  this  matter,  and  the  Jesuit  colleges,  con- 
forming to  the  customs  of  the  respective  countries, 
have  introduced  some  of  these  branches  also  in  the 
lower  classes. 

1  Pachtler,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  479. 

2  Other  changes  see  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  459—469. 

3  Reg.  Prov.,  23,   sect.  %.—Reg.  Praef.  Stud.  Inf.,  8, 
sect.  11. 


REVISED  RATIO  OF  1832  AND  LATER  REGULATIONS.    193 

The  greatest  change  was  made  in  the  rules  con- 
cerning the  teaching  of  philosophy  and  natural 
sciences.  Aristotle,  the  Philosopher  of  former  times, 
could  no  longer  hold  his  place  in  the  schools.  So  the 
Revised  Ratio  does  not  mention  him,  although  the 
speculative  questions  of  logics  and  general  metaphysics 
are  mostly  treated  according  to  Aristotelian  principles. 
And  rightly  so;  for  as  a  modern  Professor  of  Philoso- 
phy says,  " Aristotle's  doctrine  forms  the  basis  of 
traditional  logic  even  to  this  day. ' ' 1 

It  may  be  safely  said  that  after  the  vagaries  of 
Hegel  and  others,  there  was  manifested,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  greater  appreciation 
of  Aristotelian  philosophy.  The  most  prominent  ad- 
vocate of  this  revival,  Professor  Trendelenburg  of 
Berlin,  expressly  declares  that  "the  organic  theory  of 
the  universe,  the  basis  of  which  was  laid  by  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  is  the  only  philosophy  which  has  a  future 
before  it;  and  that  speculation  done  by  fits  and  starts 
and  by  every  man  for  himself,  has  proved  itself  to 
have  no  permanence. " 2  A  remark  of  Professor  Paul- 
sen  may  not  be  without  interest.  ''There  are  people 
who  are  inclined  to  use  the  names  of  Thomas  Aquinas 
and  Scotus  as  synonymous  with  nonsense  and  crazi- 
ness.  To  such  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  even  at  the 
present  day  there  are  men  who  think  similarly  as  Saint 
Thomas,  whom  they  consider  the  prince  of  philoso- 
phers, and  on  whom  they  base  their  whole  philosophi- 
cal instruction.  And  these  are  the  men  to  whom  the 
despisers  of  scholasticism  give  credit  for  a  great 
amount,  if  not  of  wisdom,  at  least  of  extraordinary 


1  Windelband,  History  of  Philosophy ',  p.  135. 

2  Krdmann,  History  of  Philosophy,  vol.  Ill,  p.  278. 

13 


194  JKSUIT  KDUCATION. 

prudence  and  cunning,  I  mean  the  Jesuits.  Has  not 
the  See  of  Rome  restored  Saint  Thomas,  the  philoso- 
pher whom  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  chosen  as  its 
guide,  as  the  philosopher  of  the  Church?  Has  this 
been  done  in  order  to  stultify  the  clergy?  Can  this  be 
the  intention  of  those  who,  through  the  clergy,  wish 
to  domineer  over  the  world?"  1 

Physics,  chemistry,  physiology,  psychology,  as- 
tronomy, geology,  and  cosmology  are  taught  according 
to  the  established  principles  of  modern  science.  The 
basis  of  this  study  is  thus  laid  down:  "The  professor 
of  physics  is  to  expose  theories,  systems,  and  hypo- 
theses, so  as  to  make  it  clear  what  degree  of  certitude 
or  probability  belongs  to  each.  Since  in  this  faculty 
new  progress  is  made  every  day,  the  professor  must 
consider  it  part  of  his  duty,  to  know  the  more  recent 
discoveries,  so  that  in  his  prelections  he  may  advance 
with  the  science  itself."  2  Higher  mathematics  (ana- 
lytic geometry  and  calculus)  are  to  be  taught  not 
only  in  one  but  in  two,  if  possible  in  three,  years  of 
the  philosophical  course.  We  may  now  invite  the 
reader  to  judge  about  Compayre's  assertions:  "The 
sciences  and  philosophy  are  involved  in  the  same  dis- 
dain as  history.  Scientific  studies  are  entirely  pro- 
scribed in  the  lower  classes,  and  the  student  enters  his 
year  in  philosophy,  having  studied  only  the  ancient 
languages.  Philosophy  itself  is  reduced  to  a  barren 
study  of  words,  to  subtile  discussions,  and  to  commen- 
taries 011  Aristotle.  Memory  and  syllogistic  reasoning 
are  the  only  faculties  called  into  play;  no  facts,  no 
real  inductions,  no  care  for  the  observation  of  nature. 
In  all  things  the  Jesuits  are  the  enemies  of  progress. 

1  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  vol.  I,  p.  38. 

2  Reg.  Prof.  P/iys.t  34—35.  —  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  275. 


REVISED  RATIO  OF  1832  AND  I^ATER  REGULATIONS.    1 95 

Intolerant  of  anything  new,  they  would  arrest  the  pro- 
gress of  the  human  mind  and  make  it  immovable. ' ' 
It  seems  almost  impossible  to  crowd  more  falsehoods 
into  so  small  a  space.     There  are  at  least  ten  flagrant 
misrepresentations  in  these  six  short  sentences.2 

Philosophy  has  been  discarded  from  most  modern 
programs  of  college  instruction,  but  to  the  great  detri- 
ment of  solid  learning.  A  thorough  philosophical 
training  is  of  the  greatest  value  for  the  lawyer,  physi- 
cian, and  scientist,  and  for  every  man  who  wishes  to 
occupy  a  higher  position  in  life.  Paulsen,  and  many 
other  leading  German  schoolmen,  express  their  regret 
that  in  the  new  systems  philosophical  training  has 
been  entirely  relegated  to  the  university.  Two  objec- 
tions are  made  against  this  method:  First,  the  form  of 

1  History  of  Pedagogy ',  p.  145.  —  It  is  beyond  my  coin- 
preheusion  how  Mr.  Payne,  the  translator,  can  style  this  book 
'•a  model,  in  matter  and  form,  for  a  general  history  of  educa- 
tion", nor  is  it  intelligible  how  such  a  superficial  production 
could  be  received  so  favorably  by  the  American  educational 
public. 

2  1.  History,  as  has  been  proved  before,  is  not  disdained; 
2.  sciences  and  philosophy  are  not  disdained ;   3.  scientific 
studies   are   not  entirely  proscribed   in  the    lower  classes; 

4.  there  are  ordinarily  two   years  of   philosophy,    not  one; 

5.  the  student,  entering  philosophy,  has  studied  much  more 
than  only  the  ancient  languages;  6.  philosophy  is  not  merely 
a  barren  study  of  words  ;  7.  nor  is  it  reduced  to  a  commentary 
on  Aristotle ;    8.  facts,  inductions,  the  observation  of  nature 
are  not  neglected ;  9.  the  Jesuits  are  not  enemies  of  progress 
in  all  things  (see  what  has  been  said  by  Protestant  scholars 
on  their  writers,  above  pp.  149—173,   179—182,  and  below, 
chapter  VII);    10.    far  from  being  intolerant  of  everything 
new,  the  professors  are  expressly  told  to  study  carefully  the 
new  discoveries  and  to  keep  abreast  of  the  advance  of  science; 
etc.,  etc. 


196  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

instruction  proper  to  the  university  is  of  the  continu- 
ous lecture.  But  this  method  presupposes  instruction 
in  form  of  question  and  answer,  in  philosophy  as  well 
as  in  other  branches.  We  should  consider  it  a  failure 
to  try  to  teach  grammar  from  the  beginning  by  lec- 
tures, as  given  at  the  university.  It  seems  as  little 
promising  of  success  to  teach  logic  in  this  manner. 
Exercises  in  logic  must  be  practised  as  well  as  must 
the  forms  of  grammar.  By  giving  a  boy  a  definition 
of  the  Subjunctive  or  of  the  Ablative  Absolute,  you 
will  not  enable  him  to  write  correctly.  Similarly  by 
lecturing  about  the  definition  or  by  giving  a  definition 
of  definition,  even  when  illustrated  by  examples,  you 
will  not  enable  the  student  to  handle  these  formulas 
logically.  To  a  certain  extent  this  applies  also  to 
psychology,  ethics  and  civics.  The  elementary 
notions  must  be  practised  by  concrete  examples,  so 
that  they  are  ready,  and  as  it  were,  handy  in  mind; 
.then  it  is  possible  to  use  them  for  more  complicated 
operations.1 

The  second  reason  for  not  relegating  philosophy 
entirely  to  the  university,  has  been  well  stated  by 
Professor  Elsperger.  "If  the  gymnasia  do  not  wish  to 
leave  to  chance  the  sort  of  ideas  the  pupils  get  from  a 
reading  that  is  often  enough  desultory,  and  from  inter- 
course with  others,  then  they  need,  in  the  highest 
classes,  a  branch  of  study  which  gives  them  the  ideas 
needed.  This  can  be  attained  only  by  elementary 
training  in  philosophy.  Mathematics  can  do  nothing 
in  this  direction,  the  study  of  L,atin  and  Greek  liter- 

1  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  p.  771. 
(2.  ed.  vol.  II,  p.  668.)—  See  also  Willmann,  Didaktik,  vol. 
II,  pp.  142  foil. 


RKVISKD  RATIO  OF  1 83  2  AND  I.ATKR  REGULATIONS.    1 97 

ature  does  something,  but  is  not  sufficient,  and  un- 
fortunately, religion  is  to  some  extent  mistrusted  by 
not  a  few  teachers.  Thus  it  happens  that  many  of  our 
older  pupils  not  only  suffer  shipwreck  in  their  faith, 
but  leave  college  with  that  lamentable  scepticism  of 
the  uneducated,  which  views  every  nobler  idea  with 
suspicion.  This  tendency  of  very  many  of  our  young 
men  can  be  counteracted  only  by  a  branch  of  study 
which  attacks  that  sceptical  disposition,  and  forces  the 
pupil  to  obtain  a  deeper  view  of  things. ' ' l 

It  is  exactly  for  such  reasons  that  the  Society  of 
Jesus  has  kept  the  course  of  philosophy  in  its  cur- 
riculum of  higher  education.  It  agrees  with  Professor 
Paulsen  that  elementary  training  in  philosophy  is 
possible  and  necessary  in  higher  schools.2  About 
the  possibility,  the  Jesuits  never  could  entertain  the 
least  doubt,  as  for  centuries  they  carried  it  out  success- 
fully, and  at  present  are  giving  a  solid  philosophical 
training  in  all  their  larger  colleges. 

The  Revised  Ratio  of  1832  was  in  no  way  con- 
sidered final.  In  the  letter  accompanying  this  Ratio, 
Father  General  Roothaan,  writes  to  the  provinces: 
"We  offer  to  you  the  result  of  careful  examinations 
and  discussions.  You  must  test  it  practically  that  it 
may  be  again  corrected,  if  necessary,  or  enlarged,  and 
then  be  sanctioned  as  a  universal  law  (for  the 

1  Blatter  fur  das  bayerische  Gymnasialwesen,  vol.  VII, 
p.  41.     (Paulseu,  /.  c.,  II,  667.)  —  In  recent  years  educators 
demand  more  and  more  that  college  education  should  ter- 
minate in  a  solid  course  of  philosophy.     See  lyehmann,  Er- 
ziehung   und  Erzieher,    Berlin,    1901.  —  Paulsen,    /.   r.,   II, 
664—670. 

2  L.  c.,  vol.  II,  p.  666:  "The  lack  of  philosophical  train- 
ing  makes  itself  felt  more  painfully  every  day  among  the 
scientists,  and  in  public  life." 


198  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Society) . ' ' l  Only  by  a  decree  of  a  General  Congregation 
of  the  Order  is  this  sanction  possible.  Such  a  decree, 
however,  was  not  passed;  consequently,  the  Revised 
Ratio  has  not  the  force  of  a  law  in  the  Society,  but  is 
merely  to  be  considered  as  a  regulation  of  the  General. 
So  much  liberty  is  left  to  Provincials  that  the  teaching 
in  Jesuit  colleges  can  easily  be  adapted  to  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  all  countries.  In  1853,  the  XXII. 
Congregation  of  the  Order  passed  a  decree  that  "the 
Provincials  should  be  free  to  exercise  the  power  granted 
them  by  the  2Qth  rule  of  making  changes  in  the 
studies,  according  to  the  demands  of  various  coun- 
tries and  times. ' ' 2  The  same  decree  ordered  that 
"new  proposals  for  amendments  be  sent  from  the 
single  provinces  and  that  the  Ratio  (of  1832)  be  revised 
with  the  advice  of  learned  and  experienced  men. ' ' 

In  the  XXIII.  Congregation,  1883,  the  study  of 
natural  sciences  was  especially  recommended.  Among 
others  the  following  regulation  was  passed:  "Those 
scholastics  [the  younger  members  of  the  Order  en- 
gaged in  studies]  who  seem  to  have  a  special  talent 
for  any  of  these  sciences,  should  be  given  a  fourth 
year,  or  special  hours  in  the  third  year  of  their  phil- 
osophical course,  to  perfect  themselves  in  that  science 
under  the  direction  of  a  professor."  y  "It  is  advisable 
to  destine  select  younger  members  of  the  Society  for 
the  acquisition  of  the  degrees  which  empower  them  to 
act  as  authorized  public  teachers."  (State  examina- 
tions in  the  European  Universities.)  These  special 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  pp.  228—233.     There  it  is  also  stated 
expressly:  "Some  of  these  regulations  are  merely  temporary"; 
p.  232. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  115. 

3  Deer.  XVII.,  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  121. 


RKVISKD  RATIO  OF  1832  AND  I,AT£R  REGULATIONS.    199 

subjects  are  to  be  pursued  after  the  regular  course  of 
studies  has  been  finished.1  Finally,  it  was  asked 
"that  some  regulations  should  be  made  as  to  special 
studies  in  ancient  languages,  philology,  ethnology, 
archaeology,  history,  higher  mathematics  and  all  nat- 
ural sciences."  It  was  decreed  that  no  "general 
prescription  could  be  made  in  this  matter,  but  the 
Provincials  should  confer  with  the  General  as  to  how 
these  studies  should  be  arranged  in  the  different  pro- 
vinces. At  the  same  time  the  Congregation  decrees 
that,  provided  the  customary  studies  of  the  Society, 
and  as  far  as  possible,  the  preeminence  of  literary 
studies  remain  intact  in  the  classical  schools,  the  pro- 
gress and  increased  cultivation  of  those  [special] 
branches  should  be  earnestly  recommended  to  the 
Provincials.  It  is  also  their  duty  to  select  those  young 
men,  who  have  a  special  talent  for  these  branches, 
that  they  may  devote  themselves  to  them  entirely. ' '  '2 

From  all  that  has  been  said  so  far,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  Society  is  continually  improving  its 
system,  and  adapting  it  to  the  conditions  of  the  age. 
It  would  also  seem  that  it  was  inadvertence  to  these 
more  recent  legislations  which  betrayed  President 
Eliot  into  the  statement :  "The  curriculum  of  the 
Jesuit  colleges  has  remained  almost  unchanged  for 
four  hundred  years,  disregarding  some  trifling  conces- 
sions made  to  natural  sciences. ' ' 3  As  the  Ratio  of 
1832  has  not  been  ratified  by  a  Congregation,  and  as 
a  further  revision  has  been  demanded,  we  may  expect 
to  hear  in  the  future  of  further  development  in  the 
Jesuit  system. 

1    Deer.  XXII.,  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  123. 

Deer.  XXIII.,  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  123. 
3    Atlantic  Monthly,  October  1899. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Educational   Work  of   the   Jesuits   in  the 
Nineteenth  Century. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Jesuits  have  not  had 
the  same  brilliant  success  as  educators  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  as  during  the  centuries  preceding  the 
suppression  of  the  Order.  How  is  this  to  be  explained  ? 
The  opponents  of  the  Order  are  ready  with  an  answer  : 
"It  is  because  the  Jesuits  have  not  kept  up  with  the 
progress  of  the  age.  Their  whole  system  is  not  suited 
to  modern  times. ' '  Even  such  as  are  not  hostile  to 
the  Society,  have  said  that  the  Old  Society  took  with 
it  into  its  grave  the  secret  of  its  educational  success. 
However,  a  short  reflection  will  give  us  the  true 
explanation. 

The  time  of  the  suppression,  a  period  of  forty 
years,  forms  a  gap  in  the  educational  history  of  the 
Society.  These  blank  pages,  as  Father  Hughes  says, 
signify  the  total  loss  of  property  and  position,  with 
a  vSeverance  in  many  places  of  the  educational  tra- 
ditions for  almost  sixty  years,  and  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  them  in  many  other  parts. l  Restored,  the 
Society  had  to  struggle  into  existence  under  altered 
and  unfavorable  conditions.  The  schools  in  about 
seven  hundred  cities  and  towns,  which  the  Order  had 
possessed  before  its  suppression,  were  now  largely  in 
the  hands  of  State  authorities.  And  besides,  the 
nineteenth  century  was  not  a  time  of  undisturbed  peace 

1    Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  266. 

(200) 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  igth  CENTURY.       2OI 

for  tlie  Jesuits.  There  was  a  persecution  going  on- 
against  them  nearly  all  the  time  in  one  country  or 
other.  They  were  expelled  from  Spain  in  1821,  re- 
admitted, but  driven  out  again  in  1835  and  1868; 
expelled  from  Belgium  1818,  from  Russia  1820,  from 
Naples  1820,  from  France  1830  and  1880,  from  Por- 
tugal 1834,  from  the  Argentine  Republic  1848,  from 
Switzerland  1847,  from  Austria  1848,  from  Italy  1848 
and  1859,  from  New  Granada  1850  and  1859,  from 
Guatemala  1871,  from  Germany  1872,  from  Nicaragua 
1 88 1,  from  Costa  Rica  1884,  harassed  in  Spain  and 
Portugal  during  the  last  years,  and  driven  out  of 
France  owing  to  the  "Laws  of  Associations." 

All  these  persecutions  seriously  hampered  the 
educational  work  of  the  Jesuits.  They  frequently  lost 
a  number  of  flourishing  colleges  forever,  others  had  to 
be  commenced  anew,  when  they  were  allowed  to 
return.  Besides,  in  many  cases,  expulsion  meant  the 
loss  of  libraries,  observatories,  and  laboratories.  Still, 
in  spite  of  these  difficulties,  at  the  end  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  they  possess  a  respectable  number  of 
colleges,  scattered  all  over  the  world,  from  Zi-ka-wei 
in  China  to  Beirut  in  Syria,  from  Australia  to  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  from  Argentina  and  Chili  to  Canada. 

The  development  of  the  colleges  of  the  Society  in 
the  United  States  deserves  a  brief  sketch.  The  first 
Jesuit  school  in  this  country  was  opened  in  New  York. 
A  Jesuit  was  the  first  priest,  so  far  as  records  go,  who 
ever  visited  (1644)  the  island  of  Manhattan,  now  a 
part  of  the  city  of  New  York.1  He  was  the  saintly 
French  missionary,  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  who  was  put 

"*  Rev.  Henry  A.  Brann,  D.  D.,  in  The  College  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier,  p.  1  foil. 


202  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

to  death  in  1646  by  the  Mohawks  at  Auriesville. 
Forty  years  after  the  martyrdom  of  Father  Jogues, 
three  other  Jesuits,  Thomas  Harvey,  Henry  Harrison, 
and  Charles  Gage,  were  invited  to  New  York  by  Gov- 
ernor Dongan.  These  Fathers,  true  to  the  spirit  of 
the  Society,  soon  established  a  classical  school  in 
New  York.  It  was  situated  apparently  in  what  then 
was  called  "King's  Farm;"  the  site  was  subsequently 
leased  to  Trinity  Church.  Governor  Dongan,  himself 
an  Irish  Catholic,  heartily  patronized  this  school, 
which  was  frequented  by  the  sons  of  the  best  families 
on  Manhattan  Island;  the  bell  of  the  Dutch  church  in 
the  fort  was  rung  to  summon  the  pupils. l  But  the 
clergy  and  the  people  of  the  Church  of  England,  not 
as  friendly  to  the  Jesuits  as  the  Dutch  Protestants, 
attacked  the  school,  and  penal  laws  were  passed  ex- 
pelling the  Jesuits  and  other  Catholic  priests  from  the 
island.  It  was  enacted  that  priests  " be  deemed  and 
accounted  incendiaries,  disturbers  of  the  peace  and 
safety,  and  enemies  to  the  true  Christian  religion,  and 
shall  be  adjudged  to  suffer  perpetual  imprisonment."2 
This  law  put  an  end  to  the  L,atin  school  of  the  Jesuits. 
The  second  attempt  made  by  the  Jesuits  to  found  a 
classical  school  in  New  York  occurred  about  the  year 
1808.  The  learned  Father  Kohlmann  opened  a  little 
school  in  Mulberry  Street,  but  in  1817  the  Jesuits  were 
recalled  from  New  York  to  Washington,  and  it  was 
only  in  1847,  that  the  College  of  St.  Francis  Xavier 
in  New  York  was  founded. 

It  is,  however,  not  New  York,  but  Maryland  where 
the  first  Jesuit  school  in  the  colonies  and  the  first 

1  Shea,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,  p.  91." 

2  Brann,  /.  c.,  p.  2. 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.        203 

Jesuit  college  in  the  United  States  was  founded.  In 
1634  two  Jesuit  Fathers  landed  in  the  province  which 
George  Calvert,  L,ord  Baltimore,  had  obtained  from 
the  English  crown.  It  was  this  province,  Maryland, 
1  'the  asylum  of  the  Papists/*  as  Bancroft  says,  " where 
Protestants  were  sheltered  against  Protestant  in- 
tolerance." l  But  not  long  after,  ungrateful  men  who 
had  fled  from  other  colonies,  and  who  had  been  wel- 
comed in  this  province,  turned  on  those  who  showed 
hospitality  to  them,  and  a  relentless  war  of  persecution 
was  waged  against  the  Catholic  settlers  of  Maryland. 
This  hampered  the  development  of  Catholic  education 
greatly.  Still,  zeal  for  higher  studies  was  never  lack- 
ing. In  1638,  Father  Poulton  had  been  sent  from 
England  as  Superior  of  the  Maryland  Mission.  One 
of  his  first  acts  was  the  project  of  a  seat  of  learning  in 
the  colony.  This  was  about  the  same  time  when  the 
initial  movement  was  made  to  establish  Harvard  Col- 
lege. But  how  different  were  the  circumstances  in 
which  Harvard  and  the  Jesuit  school  developed  !  The 
one  protected  by  the  government,  the  other  persecuted. 
And  yet,  amidst  all  the  trials  and  annoyances,  the 
Jesuits  never  ceased  to  labor  for  the  intellectual  train- 
ing of  the  Catholics  as  well  as  for  the  religious.  In 
1651  we  find  their  academy  near  Calvert  Manor,  in 
1677  in  or  about  Newtown  Manor;  for  the  trials  of 
the  times  did  not  permit  the  school  to  be  stationary. 
In  1746  the  Jesuits  were  driven  out  of  Southern  Mary- 
land ;  they  crossed  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  immed- 

1  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  I,  pp.  244—248 
(18th  ed.,  Boston,  1864).  —  However,  on  the  ' 'toleration"  in 
Maryland  see  Griffin,  Historical  Researches,  1902,  vol.  XIX, 
No.  4. 


204  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

lately  opened  their  academy  on  the  Eastern  shore,  at 
Bohemia  Manor. 

In  this  school  two  men  studied  who  became  famous 
in  the  history  of  America  :  Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll- 
ton,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, and  his  cousin  John  Carroll,  the  first  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore.  As  the  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
colonies  and  the  great  universities  of  England  were  in 
those  days  closed  to  Catholic  pupils,  those  who  could 
afford  it,  went  to  the  European  Continent.  Thus  John 
and  Charles  Carroll  went  to  the  famous  Jesuit  college 
at  St.  Omer  in  Flanders,  where  they  won  a  high 
reputation  for  their  brilliant  scholarship.  After  six 
years  study  in  that  school,  John  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Later  on  he  spent  a  series  of  years  as  professor 
in  the  colleges  of  St.  Omer,  L,iege  and  Bruges.  The 
suppression  of  the  Society  filled  his  heart  with  the 
deepest  grief.  He  went  to  England,  where  he  was 
received  most  heartily  by  L,ord  Arundell  and  other 
English  noblemen.  But  when  he  saw  that  measures 
were  adopted  by  the  English  government,  which  more 
and  more  alienated  the  American  colonies  from  the 
sovereign  and  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  Father 
Carroll  patriotically  resolved  to  return  to  his  native 
country  and  share  its  trials  and  fortunes.  The  services 
which  he  rendered  to  the  nascent  republic  during  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  especially  his  mission  to  Canada 
with  Benjamin  Franklin,  Samuel  Chase  and  Charles 
Carroll,  need  not  be  dwelled  on  here.1 

In  1784  Carroll  was  appointed  Prefect  Apostolic  for 
the  Catholics  in  the  United  States.     He  immediately 

1    See  Shea,  Life  and  Times  of  the  Most  Reverend  John 
Carroll,  oh.  IV. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  IQth  CENTURY.        205 

planned  the  establishment  of  an  academy  for  higher 
studies.  The  outcome  of  this  plan  was  the  foundation 
of  the  College  of  Georgetown,  near  Washington,  in 
1789.  In  1791  the  doors  of  the  college  were  opened 
to  students.  The  first  pupil  to  enter  was  William 
Gaston  of  North  Carolina,  who  became  a  profound 
scholar  and  a  great  orator.  He  entered  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  1813,  was  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  Federal  party,  and  for  many  years  adorned  the 
judicial  bench  of  his  native  state. l  Among  others  of 
the  pioneer  pupils  of  Georgetown  were  Philemon 
Charles  Wederstrandt  (later  on  commandant  of  the 
"Argus"),  Robert  Walsh,  an  eminent  writer  who  ably 
defended  American  affairs  against  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  English  writers,  and  founder  of  the  first 
American  Quarterly:  The  American  Review  of  History 
and  Politics.2  When  Washington  honored  George- 
town College  by  a  formal  visit,  Robert  Walsh  was 
chosen  to  address  him. 

The  college  had  been  founded  by  Ex-Jesuits. 
Many  of  the  professors  had  joined  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
which  had  been  revived  in  Russia,  and,  at  last,  in 
1814,  Archbishop  Carroll  and  the  Fathers  in  George- 
town received  with  joy  and  exultation  the  news  of  the 
complete  restoration  of  the  Society.  After  this  event, 
Jesuit  colleges  began  to  multiply.  In  the  year  1900 
the  Jesuits  conducted  twenty-six  colleges,  the  principal 
ones,  besides  Georgetown,  being  in  Baltimore,  Boston, 
Buffalo,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Denver, 
Detroit,  Fordham  (New  York),  New  Orleans,  New 
York,  Omaha,  St.  I^ouis,  St.  Mary's  (Kansas),  San 

Shea,  History  of  Georgetown  College,  p.  15. 
2    Shea,  /.  c. 


206  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

Francisco,  Santa  Clara  (California),  Spokane,  Spring 
Hill  (Mobile),  Washington,  Worcester  (Massachu- 
setts). In  that  same  year  over  fifty-two  thousand  boys 
were  educated  in  Jesuit  high  schools  and  colleges  all 
over  the  world,  that  is  nearly  twice  as  many  as  in 
Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia,  Cornell,  the 
Universities  of  Chicago,  Michigan,  Pennsylvania, 
Wisconsin,  combined. 

Some  of  the  Jesuit  institutions  rank  very  high, 
both  for  the  number  of  pupils  and  for  the  excellent 
results  which  they  exhibit.  The  German  Jesuits, 
expelled  from  the  "land  of  science  and  LehrfreiheitJ* 
impart  a  higher  education  to  more  than  five  thousand 
students  in  foreign  countries.  Their  Francis-Xavier 
College  at  Bombay,  in  1897,  numbered  fifteen  hundred 
and  twenty-six  students  ;  ten  hundred  and  two  Chris- 
tians ;  two  hundred  and  ninety  Parsis ;  one  hundred 
and  seventy-one  Hindoos ;  fifty-four  Mahometans ; 
nine  Jews.  French  Jesuits  have  two  colleges  in 
Trichinopoli,East  India.  The  one  is  frequented  by 
eighteen  hundred  students,  among  them  five  hundred 
and  fifty  of  the  Brahmin  caste.  The  English  govern- 
ment in  India  shows  the  Jesuits  many  favors  for  their 
educational  work.  Not  unfrequently  the  Viceroy,  or 
the  Governor,  visits  the  colleges  and  praises  the  work 
of  the  teachers,  and  not  a  few  Jesuits  have  been 
appointed  University  examiners. 

In  Syria,  the  Jesuits  conduct  St.  Joseph's  Univer- 
sity, Beirut.  They  have  a  printing  establishment 
there  which  probably  holds  the  first  rank  among  those 
of  the  Orient.  A  French"  admiral  calls  it  "a  creation 
which  is  the  symbol  of  the  union  of  the  two  greatest 
forces  in  the  world,  religion  and  science  ;  an  establish- 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.        207 

nient  which  is  the  pride  of  France,  as  well  as  of  the 
Catholic  Church. "  1  A  Protestant  Review  in  Germany 
writes :  "The  progress  which,  owing  to  this  establish- 
ment, the  Arabic  literature  has  made,  cannot  be 
ignored. ' ' 2  The  latest  catalogue  has  four  hundred 
and  four  numbers,  of  all  sorts  of  Arabic  and  Syriac 
works,  grammars,  dictionaries,  etc.  Some  of  the  works 
edited  by  these  Jesuits,  are  at  present  used  in  the 
lectures  in  the  University  of  Berlin.3 

Another  great  Jesuit  school  in  the  East  is  Zi-ka- 
wei,  near  Shanghai,  China.  The  educational  labors 
of  the  Jesuits  in  this  institution  have  been  acknowl- 
edged by  distinguished  Protestant  visitors.  In  1898 
Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  on  his  first  landing  in 
Shanghai,  paid  a  visit  to  this  establishment.  He  spent 
nearly  a  whole  day  with  the  Fathers,  and  frankly  ex- 
pressed his  admiration  at  the  splendid  work  they  were 
doing.  In  fact,  he  was  so  impressed  by  what  he  had 
seen,  that  again  and  again  after  his  visit,  he  would 
return  to  the  subject  and  talk  about  the  work  of  "those 
excellent  French  Jesuits. ' '  It  soured  a  few  German 
fanatics  somewhat  against  him,  when  reports  began  to 
be  printed  in  the  German  papers,  to  the  effect  that 
Prince  Henry  had  spoken  kindly  of  the  hated  Jesuits. 
But  this  bigotry  did  not  influence  Prince  Henry. 
Princess  Irene,  his  wife,  having  the  next  year  rejoined 
her  husband  in  China,  they  paid  a  second  visit  to 
Zi-ka-wei,  which  is  briefly  related  in  the  following 
terms  :  "On  the  i2th  of  March,  1899,  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia,  and  the  Princess,  his  wife,  arrived  at  Shanghai; 

1  A  terre  et  d  bord,  par  Tamiral  Aube,  1894,  p.  45. 

2  Literarisches  Centralblatt,  1890,  No.  42. 

3  Braunsberger,   S.  J.,    Rilckblick  auf  das  katholische 
Ordenswesen  im  19.  Jahrhundert,  (Herder,  1901)  p.  150. 


208  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  next  morning  they  hastened  to  pay  a  visit  to 
Zi-ka-wei.  The  Prince  told  us  that  he  had  said  such 
nice  things  to  the  Princess  about  the  establishments 
at  Zi-ka-wei  that  she  wished  to  visit  them  at  once. ' ' l 

The  following  comparison,  made  by  an  English 
Protestant,  Laurence  Oliphant,  speaks  well  for  the 
educational  labors  of  the  Jesuits  :  * '  I  was  struck  with 
the  intelligent  expression  of  the  youths'  countenances 
in  the  Jesuit  school  at  Shanghai,  and  at  the  evident 
affection  they  had  for  their  teachers.  Instead  of  cram- 
ming nothing  but  texts  down  their  throats,  they  teach 
them  the  Chinese  classics,  Confucius,  etc.,  so  as  to 
enable  them  to  compete  in  the  public  examinations. 
The  result  is,  that  even  if  these  native  youths  do  not 
all  become  Christians,  they  have  always  gratitude 
enough  to  protect  and  love  those  to  whom  they  owed 
their  education,  and  perhaps  consequent  rise  in  life. 
A  few  days  later  I  went  over  the  school  of  the  Protes- 
tant Bishop.  The  contrast  was  most  striking.  The 
small  boys  gabbled  over  the  Creed  in  what  was  sup- 
posed to  be  English,  but  which  L,ord  Elgin,  who  was 
with  me,  was  firmly  persuaded  was  Chinese.  They 
understood  probably  about  as  clearly  as  they  pro- 
nounced. Then  instead  of  the  missionaries  living 
among  them,  and  really  identifying  themselves  with 
the  lads,  as  the  Jesuits  do,  they  have  gorgeous  houses, 
wives  and  families.  A  Protestant  missionary  here, 
with  a  wife  and  four  children,  gets  a  house  as  big  as 
Spring  Grove,  rent  free,  and  ^500  a  year.  And  that 
is  what  they  call  'giving  up  all  for  the  sake  of  the 
heathen  V2 

1  The  Messenger,  New  York,  March  1902,  p.  335. 

2  Memoir  of  the  Life  of  Laurence  Oliphant  (New  York, 
Harper,  1891),  vol.  I,  p.  229. 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE)  IQtll  CENTURY.        209 

This  is  clearly  another  proof  for  what  was  said  in 
a  previous  chapter,1  that  the  religious  state  affords 
many  advantages  for  educational  work,  at  least  in 
missionary  countries.  Here  we  must  add  that  the 
educational  labors  of  the  Jesuits  in  those  countries  are 
not  confined  to  higher  instruction.  Many  lay-brothers 
give  elementary  instructions  in  the  schools,  2  and  the 
priests  give  catechetical  instruction  in  hundreds  of 
such  schools,  which  in  many  other  ways  are  directed 
by  them.  In  February  1901,  fifteen  scholars  of  Paris, 
Professors  in  the  University  or  members  of  the  In- 
stitut  de  France,  among  them  the  celebrated  Paul 
Sabatier,  Dean  of  the  Protestant  Theological  Faculty, 
issued  a  declaration  in  favor  of  the  religious  associa- 
tions. A  list  is  added  about  the  educational  work  in 
foreign  countries  under  the  direction  of  French  Jesuits. 
The  total  given  there  is  3,923  schools,  or  orphan 
asylums,  with  156,256  children,  and  all  this  is  done 
by  the  French  Jesuits  alone.  Of  their  193  schools  in 
Syria  in  particular,  the  Protestant  Literarische  Central- 
blatt  of  L,eipsic  says,  "that  they  are  now  the  best  in 
Syria."3  Therefore,  that  the  Order  is  doing  very 
great  work  for  civilization,  is  evident.  Of  the  15,160 
members  of  the  Order  (in  1900)  about  4000  were 
laboring  in  foreign  missions ;  and  this  work,  in  most 
cases,  means  also  work  directed  toward  the  education 
of  the  native  people. 

In  this  connection  we  may  quote  the  striking 
tribute,  paid  by  an  American  politician  to  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  Jesuits  among  the  Indians.  On 
April  7,  1900,  Senator  Vest  of  Missouri,  during  the 

1  See  chapter  III,  pp.  89—98. 

2  See  above  pp.  104—106. 

1  Braunsberger,  /.  c.,  p.  115. 
14 


210  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

discussion  of  the  Indian  Appropriation  Bill  before  the 
United  States  Senate,  made  the  following  remarkable 
statements  :  { ( I  was  raised  a  Protestant ;  I  expect  to 
die  one  ;  I  was  never  in  a  Catholic  church  in  my  life, 
and  I  have  not  the  slightest  sympathy  with  many  of 
its  dogmas ;  but,  above  all,  I  have  no  respect  for  this 
insane  fear  that  the  Catholic  church  is  about  to  over- 
turn this  Government.  I  should  be  ashamed  to  call 
myself  an  American,  if  I  indulged  in  any  such  igno- 
rant belief.  I  said  that  I  was  a  Protestant.  I  was 
reared  in  the  old  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church ;  my 
father  was  an  elder  in  it,  and  my  earliest  impressions 
were  that  the  Jesuits  had  horns  and  hoofs  and  tails, 
and  that  there  was  a  faint  tinge  of  sulphur  in  the 
circumambient  air  whenever  one  crossed  your  path. 
Some  years  ago  I  was  assigned  by  the  Senate  to 
examine  the  Indian  schools  in  "Wyoming  and  Montana. 
I  visited  every  one  of  them.  I  wish  to  say  now  what 
I  have  said  before  in  the  Senate,  and  it  is  not  the  pop- 
ular side  of  the  question  by  any  means,  that  /  did  not 
see  in  all  my  journey  a  single  school  that  was  doing  any 
educational  work  worthy  the  name  of  educational  ivork, 
unless  it  was  under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits.  I  did  not 
see  a  single  Government  school,  especially  these  day 
schools,  where  there  was  any  work  done  at  all.  .  .  . 
The  Jesuits  have  elevated  the  Indian  wherever  they 
have  been  allowed  to  do  so  without  interference  of 
bigotry,  and  fanaticism,  and  the  cowardice  of  insec- 
tivorous politicians  who  are  afraid  of  the  A.  P.  A. 
and  the  votes  that  can  be  cast  against  them  in  their 
district  and  States.  They  have  made  him  a  Christian 
and,  above  even  that,  have  made  him  a  workman  able 
to  support  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  IQth  CENTURY.       211 

Go  to  the  Flathead  Reservation  in  Montana  ....  and 
look  at  the  work  of  the  Jesuits,  and  what  is  seen? 
You  find  comfortable  dwellings,  herds  of  cattle  and 
horses,  intelligent,  self-respecting  Indians.  ...  I  am 
not  afraid  to  say  this,  because  I  speak  from  personal 
observation,  and  no  man  ever  went  among  these 
Indians  with  more  intense  prejudice  against  the  Jesuits 
than  I  had  when  I  left  the  city  of  Washington  to 
perform  that  duty.  .  .  .  Every  dollar  you  give  to  these 
[Government]  day  schools  might  as  well  be  thrown 
into  the  Potomac  River  under  a  ton  of  lead. ' ' l 

When  men  who  have  been  able  to  achieve  the 
almost  impossible,  the  education  and  civilization  of 
the  Indian,  undertake  the  task  of  secondary  education 
among  civilized  nations  with  the  same  zeal  and  energy, 
must  we  not  expect  that  they  will  perform  this  success- 
fully? If  we  add  that,  owing  to  their  studies,  special 
training  and  natural  inclinations,  they  are  even  better 
fitted  for  the  work  of  higher  education,  than  for  that 
of  civilizing  the  Indian,  is  it  then  likely  that  they  are 
so  inefficient  as  some  represent  them  ? 

Let  us,  then,  see  the  results  of  a  number  of  Jesuit 
colleges.  I  wish  to  remark,  however,  that  the  account 
in  no  respect  can  be  called  complete,  or  even  satisfac- 
tory. What  is  given  on  the  next  pages,  was  found, 
sometimes  accidentally,  in  various  publications.  More 
material  was  available  about  the  schools  of  the  British 
Empire,  where  the  relative  efficiency  of  a  school  can 
be  fairly  tested  b}'  the  University  Examinations.2 

1  From  the  Congressional  Record  for  April  7,  1900,  page 
4120  (Italics  ours). 

2  The  data,  unless  stated  otherwise,  were  communicated 
to  the  Woodstock  Letters. 


212  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  Tablet  (Tvondon),  April  26,  1902,  prints  the 
following : 

"The  following  Catholic  names  appear  on  the 
Classical  Honours  list  issued  in  April  by  the  Modera- 
tors at  Oxford.  The  names  appear  in  alphabetical 
order. 

CLASS  I. — J.  W.  Glassson,  Corpus  Christi ;  C.  C. 
I/attey,  Pope's  Hall ;  I.  C.  Scoles,  Pope's  Hall. 

CLASS  II.— H.  E.  Tulford,  Balliol ;  E.  J.  Kylie, 
Balliol ;  C.  D.  Plater,  Pope's  Hall. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Jesuit  students 
from  Pope's  Hall,  formerly  Clarke's  Hall,  achieved  a 
success  which,  considering  the  size  of  the  Hall,  is 
probably  a  record  in  the  history  of  the  University. 
The  Hall  which  has  room  for  only  a  dozen  students, 
divStributed  over  the  whole  four  years'  course,  was  re- 
presented by  three  candidates  at  the  recent  examina- 
tion, and  all  these  were  successful.  Indeed,  the  Hall, 
which  was  opened  by  the  late  Father  Richard  Clarke, 
S.  J. ,  only  six  years  ago,  has  had  a  history  during  that 
time  of  which  very  large  colleges  in  the  University 
might  be  justly  proud.  Starting  with  four  students 
in  1896,  of  whom  two  broke  down  in  health,  the  first 
examination  at  which  the  Hall  presented  candidates 
was  Moderations  in  1898,  when  one  of  the  two  ob- 
tained ist  class  honours,  and  the  other  2nd  class 
honours  in  Classics.  In  1899  the  Hall  secured  one 
ist  class  honours  in  Mathematical  Moderations,  one 
2nd  class  honours  and  one  3rd  class  honours  in  Clas- 
sics. In  1900  the  score  was  one  ist  class  and  one 
2nd  class  honours  in  Classical  "Greats" — the  final 
degree  examination ;  one  ist  class  in  Mathematical 
Moderations,  and  one  2nd  class  in  Classical  Modera- 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9tll  CENTURY.        213 

tions.  In  1901,  one  ist  in  Mathematical  Greats,  and 
one  ist  and  one  2nd  in  Classical  Moderations.  As 
nearly  all  these  young  Jesuits  have  been  educated 
either  at  Stonyhurst,  at  Beaumont,  or  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's,  such  excellent  results,  as  soon  as  they  are 
brought  into  open  competition  with  the  picked  students 
of  all  the  leading  public  schools,  who  are  the  holders 
of  the  innumerable  scholarships  in  the  University,  go 
to  show  that  after  all  our  Catholic  colleges  are,  to  say 
the  least,  not  so  very  far  behind  the  best  Protestant 
schools  in  the  country,  either  in  the  soundness  of  their 
general  education,  or  in  the  special  culture  of  the 
classics. ' ' 

In  Ireland  there  are  several  richly  endowed  Prot- 
estant foundations :  the  Queen's  Colleges  of  Cork, 
Galway,  and  Belfast,  the  last,  one  of  the  best  equipped 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  British  Empire ;  the 
three  Colleges  draw  an  annual  revenue  of  about  $125,- 
ooo  to  support  a  score  of  distinguished  Professors  in 
each.  The  Jesuits  conduct  the  University  College  of 
Stephens  Green,  Dublin.  For  many  years  University 
College  routed  from  the  field  the  Queen's  Colleges  of 
Cork  and  Galway,  and  was  surpassing  gradually  that 
of  Belfast,  although  this  one  made  a  noble  fight.  In 
the  two  examinations  of  the  Royal  University  of  1895, 
the  Jesuit  college  won  67  distinctions,  while  the 
Queen's  College  of  Belfast  gained  a  total  of  57.  Uni- 
versity College  bore  off  all  the  first  places  in  mathe- 
matics, the  first  two  places  in  English,  and  the  first 
honors  in  mathematical  physics  and  chemistry,  in 
classics  the  first  place  in  First  Arts,  and  the  first  and 
second  places  in  Second  Arts.  Of  the  sixteen  medical 
honors  awarded,  University  College  secured  nine,  the 


214  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

remaining  seven  were  divided  between  her  Majesty's 
privileged  institutions.  This  despite  the  many  dis- 
advantages of  University  College  through  the  lack  of 
laboratories  and  museums,  which  the  Government  at 
lavish  expense  has  provided  for  the  Protestant  rivals. 1 
The  success  of  the  following  year  was  equally  brilliant. 
In  the  first  and  second  Arts  Examination  of  1897 
University  College  gained  51  distinctions,  Belfast  46, 
Gal  way  18,  Cork  6.  Of  the  51  distinctions  32  are  in 
the  first  class  (only  16  of  Belfast's),  and  among  them 
first  place  in  no  fewer  than  9  subjects.  In  the  M.  A. 
Examination  three  out  of  the  four  studentships 
awarded,  five  out  of  the  six  first  class  honors  awarded, 
the  only  two  special  prizes  awarded,  two  out  of  the 
three  gold  medals,  all  went  to  University  College.  It 
bore  away  13  out  of  the  18  distinctions  conferred. 
In  the  B.  A.  Examinations  : 

1st  Honors.  2nd  Honors.  Total. 

University  College. 4                        13  17 

Queen's  College,  Belfast 3                        13  16 

"               "         Cork nil.                    nil.  nil. 

"               "         Galway....         nil.                       4  4 

Taking  the  whole  of  the  arts  examination  for  the 
Academic  year,  we  find  University  College  first  on  the 
list  with  82  distinctions,  as  compared  with  63  for  Bel- 
fast, 25  for  Galway,  and  7  for  Cork.  And  University 
College  has  a  comparatively  small  number  of  students, 
many  of  whom  can  attend  only  the  night  classes. 

In  Autumn  1898  once  again  the  little  unendowed 
University  College  of  the  Jesuits  outdistanced  the 
endowed  rivals,  and  this  time  more  than  ever.  But  it 
is  not  merely  in  the  number  of  distinctions,  though 
that  exceeds  the  combined  results  of  all  its  three 

1     Woodstock  Letters,  1895,  p.  504. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.        215 

rivals,  but  in  their  quality  that  University  College 
stands  pre-eminent.  The  College  got  first  and  second 
places  over  all  competitors  in  classics  and  mathematics, 
first  place  in  history  and  political  economy,  and  in 
modern  literature.  This  last  distinction  is  enhanced 
by  the  fact  that  the  standard  has  been  growing  higher 
year  after  year,  and  this  year  the  papers  exceeded  in 
difficulty  any  hitherto  set. 

The  following  list  tells  best  the  result : 

AUTUMN:  JL    .&     £ 

_r]        .pgj        TH 

Honors  and  Exhibitions.      £      •§      « 

^  cfl         0         ^ 

"~lst  Class.     2nd  Class?    .§     *§     a     3 

f_)          J3  (L)  Q 

CO       CO      PH       H 

University 

College 13  4  3  1  1  22 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Belfast 4  6  1  1  1  13 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Galway 0  3  0104 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Cork 0  2  1003 

JUNE  AND  AUTUMN  COMBINED:  .&    .&     £ 

Honors  and  Exhibitions.      §      «      S 
1st  Class.     2nd  Class.       £     "§     :U      3 

O        •£»         f         O 

CO       CO       fe       {H 

University 

College 35  37  31  L  77 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Belfast 25  37  1  1  1  65 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Galway ,.  4  9  0  1  0  14 

Queen's 

Coll.,  Cork 0  23  1      0      0    24 

In  1896  the  Jesuit    college  of  Clongowes,  in  the 
Intermediate  Examination,  where  8877  students  pre- 


2l6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

sented  themselves,  held  the  foremost  place  of  all  the 
schools  and  colleges  of  Ireland  with  a  total  of  45  dis- 
tinctions.    Also  in  1897  ft  outdistanced  all  competitors 
in  the  highest  grade,  winning  the  "Blue  Ribbon"  of 
the  examination,  the  highest  honor  in  the  senior  grade. 
From  India  similar  results  are  reported  from  various 
Jesuit  colleges,  for  instance  from  St.  Xavier's  College, 
Calcutta,    the    College    of    Darjeeling,    St.     Francis 
Xavier's  College,   Bombay.      Last  year   (1901),   the 
number  of  candidates  for  "matriculation  examination" 
in  the  whole  Presidency  of  Bombay  was  3806;  of  these 
only  1217  passed  (32  per  ct.).    The  Jesuits  of  St.  Fran- 
cis Xavier's,  Bombay,  had  sent  for  the  examination  43; 
of  these  34  passed  (79  per  ct.).     In  1899  St.  Joseph's 
College,    North   Point,    Darjeeling,   secured  the  only 
vacancy,  at  the  "Opium  Examination,"  and  the  first 
place  at  the    "Accounts   Examination,"    with   these 
two  ten  first  places  at  the  Public  Examinations,  which 
is  all  the  more  creditable  as  the  College  is  but  seven 
or   eight   years   old.      Most   gratifying   successes   are 
reported  also  from  the  Jesuit  colleges  in  Australia. 

Coming  nearer  home,  we  have  to  speak  of  little 
St.  Boniface  College,  Manitoba.  In  1897  ft  could 
insert  the  following  advertisement  in  the  "North- West 
Review,"  which  is  carefully  read  by  the  Protestants  of 
Winnipeg,  who  could  not  challenge  the  advertise- 
ment' : 

"St.  Boniface  College.  The  only  Catholic 
College  in  America  that  competes  annually  with 
half  a  dozen  Protestant  Colleges  and  Collegiate 
Institutions.  In  proportion  to  the  number  of 
its  pupils,  St.  Boniface  College  has  won  more 
scholarships  than  any  of  its  Protestant  com- 
petitors. ' ' 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  I9tll  CENTURY.        217 

The  Governor's  Bronze  Medal  has  been  awarded 
twenty-two  times  from  1879  to  1900.  Seven  out  of 
these  twenty-two  times  it  has  been  won  by  a  student 
from  St.  Boniface  College.  Considering  that,  during 
all  these  years,  the  candidates  from  St.  Boniface  Col- 
lege were  in  an  extremely  small  minority  —  about  one 
in  twenty-two,  or  four  and  one-half  per  cent  on  an 
average,  —  this  proportion  of  seven  out  of  twenty-two, 
almost  a  third,  struck  every  one,  especially  the  op- 
ponent, as  very  extraordinary.  Had  St.  Boniface 
won  that  medal,  the  most  highly  valued  of  all  the 
University  distinctions,  once  in  twenty-two  years,  the 
Catholic  college  would  have  been  doing  well,  would 
have  had  its  fair  share  of  success.  Manitoba  College 
(Presbyterian),  the  largest  of  all  the  colleges,  which 
sometimes  boasts  of  as  many  students  as  all  the  other 
colleges  put  together,  has  won  the  medal  only  three 
times.  Then  the  proportionate  value  of  Latin  and 
Greek  was  lowered ;  the  classics  were  a  strong  point 
at  St.  Boniface.  But  St.  Boniface  nevertheless  secured 
the  medal  two  years  in  succession.  Then  Greek, 
hitherto  obligatory  on  all,  was  made  optional  after  a 
long  fight,  in  which  St.  John's  College  (Anglican) 
sided  with  St.  Boniface  against  this  innovation.  The 
result  of  this  move,  coupled  with  the  preponderance 
of  mathematics  and  chemistry  over  Latin  alone,  pre- 
vented St.  Boniface  from  winning  the  medal  for  seven 
years,  although  its  students  often  headed  the  list  in 
special  subjects.  But  1899  and  1900  the  St.  Boniface 
students  forged  ahead  again,  and  won  the  medal  two 
years  running. 

During  the  vacation  of  1900,  a  change  has  occurred 
in  the  statute  that  concerns  the  University  scholar- 


21 8  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

ships.  Hitherto  the  winners  of  scholarships  had  been 
listed  in  the  order  of  merit,  with  the  mention  of  the 
college  or  school  to  which  they  belonged.  Now  all 
the  winners  were  to  be  arranged  alphabetically,  with 
no  mention  of  the  institutions  to  which  they  belong. 
Several  reasons  were  given  for  this  change,  but  the 
suspicion  has  been  expressed  that  the  real  motive  was 
to  prevent  the  Jesuit  college  from  occupying  so  large 
a  place  in  the  public  eye. 1  It  may  appear  unfair  to 
make  such  a  charge ;  however,  such  suspicions  have 
been  expressed  by  men  who  are  not  Jesuits,  nor  biased 
towards  the  Society.  Thus,  about  twenty  years  ago, 
Albert  Duruy  said  of  the  movement  against  religious 
orders  in  France  and  the  Jesuits  in  particular:  •' With- 
out proofs,  without  thorough  inspection,  they  slander 
and  accuse  the  congregations.  .  .  They  do  not  try  to 
compete  with  them,  they  find  it  simpler  to  suppress 
them."2  In  fact,  the  recent  movement  in  France 
against  religious  orders  has  been  ascribed,  undoubtedly 
with  good  reasons,  to  the  same  motive. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  an  attempt  made  in  France 
to  introduce  a  Bill  to  suppress  the  religious  schools, 
which  (at  the  expense  of  the  State  schools)  were  gaining 
more  and  more  in  public  favor.  A  Parliamentary  com- 
mission was  then  appointed  which  was  presided  over  by 
M.  Ribot,  and  which  took  a  quantity  of  very  valuable 
evidence  from  various  witnesses.  Nothing,  however,  as 
may  be  seen  from  M.  Ribot 's  report,3  was  established 
against  the  Jesuits  or  any  other  religious  schools ;  on 

1  From  the  North-  West  Review,  August  22,  1900. 

2  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  1880,  I. 

3  La    reforme    de  V enseignement  secondaire.      Armand 
Colin,  Paris. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  IQth  CENTURY.       219 

the  contrary,  they  were  in  several  respects  held  up  as 
an  example  to  the  State  schools,  even  by  distinguished 
adherents  of  the  latter.  Such  results  were  naturally 
deemed  highly  unsatisfactory  by  the  anti-religious 
party,  and  accordingly  for  the  time  being  the  con- 
templated legislation  was  shelved.  When  M.  Waldeck- 
Rousseau  undertook  it  and  enlarged  it,  he  was  careful 
to  avoid  anything  so  dangerous  to  his  designs  as  an- 
other judicial  inquiry  into  the  facts. 1  Now,  if  any 
proofs  could  have  been  found  showing  the  inefficiency 
of  the  Jesuit  schools,  it  is  certain  that  M.  Waldeck- 
Rousseau  would  have  made  the  best  of  such  evidence. 

The  fact  that  he  says  nothing  of  it,  is  a  sure  sign 
that  no  such  proofs  are  procurable  even  by  the  minutest 
examinations.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  Jesuit  schools 
were,  at  the  very  least,  as  efficient  as  the  State  schools. 

Instead  of  proofs,  such  hollow  and  absurd  declara- 
tions were  made:  " Religious  possess  an  independence 
which  gradually  will  lead  to  the  usurpation  of  all 
authority.  They  dare  even  the  dignitaries  of  the 
Church.  The  education  which  they  give  separates  a 
part  of  youth  from  the  rest,  and  thus  the  moral  unity 
of  the  country  is  rent. ' ' 2  The  question  ought  to  have 
been:  "Are  the  youths,  educated  by  religious,  by 
Jesuits,  less  instructed,  less  moral,  less  patriotic?" 
To  this  question  the  answer  has  been  given  decidedly 
in  the  negative.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of 
the  patriotism  of  French  Jesuit  pupils ;  their  morality 
has  been  most  favorably  compared  to  that  of  pupils  of 
other  schools  —  whereas  in  M.  Ribot's  report  a  dis- 

1     The  Tablet,  Nov.  2,  1901,  p.  698. 

!     Speech  of  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau,  quoted  by  du  Lac, 
pp.  88  sq. 


220  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

tinguished  adherent  of  the  State  school  system  de- 
clares that  in  these  State  schools  the  pupils  are  "mo- 
ralemenl  abandonnfa" .  As  regards  the  intellectual 
ability  shown  by  Jesuit  pupils,  it  will  suffice  to  see  the 
lists  of  the  successes  obtained  by  them  in  the  Ecole 
Centrale,  the  Poly  technique,  the  Military  Academy  of 
Saint-Cyr,  and  the  Ecole  Navale.1 

The  following  statement  will  illustrate  how  the 
anti-clerical  press  fabricated  proofs  of  the  inefficiency 
of  Jesuit  colleges  ;  it  shows  also  that  Jesuit  pupils  are 
not  behind  others  in  branches  other  than  classics, 
mathematics  and  sciences.  In  1875  a  student  in  the 
law  school  at  Poitiers  published  these  facts  :  "A  short 
time  ago  the  journal  of  M.  Gambetta,  the  R6publique 
frangaise,  had  taken  the  trouble  to  occupy  itself  with 
the  Law  Faculty  at  Poitiers  and  its  students.  Accord- 
ing to  M.  Gambetta  the  said  school  comprises  two 
clearly  distinct  classes  of  students  :  those  from  the 
Lycees,  and  those  from  the  Jesuit  colleges.  The  latter 
are  good  for  nothing  and  obtain  no  prizes,  whereas 
the  former  carry  off  all  the  laurels.  Now  in  point  of 
fact,  at  the  distribution  of  prizes  in  the  lav/  school  for 
1874-75,  which  took  place  last  Thursday,  the  reports 
show  the  following  results :  In  the  3rd  year,  the  2nd 
prize  for  French  Law  and  the  2nd  prize  for  Roman 
Law  were  awarded  to  a  Jesuit  pupil.  In  the  2nd  year, 
of  the  four  distinctions  two  were  given  to  Jesuit  pupils. 
In  the  ist  year,  all  five  distinctions,  two  medals  and 
three  honorable  mentions,  were  awarded  to  Jesuit 
pupils."2 

1  Du  Lac,  Jesuites,  p.  250  foil. 

2  Univers,  Paris,  December  2,   1875.      For  high  praise 
bestowed  oil  Jesuit  pupils  by  University  Examiners  in  France, 


KDUC ATION  IN  THK  igth  CENTURY.     221 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  decades,  neither  the 
Jesuit  colleges  nor  the  schools  of  the  other  Congrega- 
tions in  France  were  inferior  to  the  State  schools. 
The  very  contrary  is  true,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
remarkable  testimony  of  an  anti-clerical  writer  in  the 
Contemporary  Review.1  The  article,  ' 'Monastic  Orders 
up  to  Date,"  is  filled  with  virulence  against  the  re- 
ligious orders,  the  Roman  Congregations,  and  the 
Catholic  Church  in  general.  Yet  the  superiority  of 
the  schools  of  the  religious  over  the  State  schools  is 
candidly  admitted.  Speaking  of  the  charges  brought 
against  the  religious  orders  in  France,  the  writer 
says  :  "The  members  of  these  communities  have,  it  is 
said,  taken  elementary,  intermediate,  and  technical 
education  into  their  own  hands,  are  successfully  pre- 
paring youths  for  schools,  professions,  and  university 
degrees,  and  supply  both  army  and  navy  with  officers. 
The  official  report  on  the  Budget  of  Instruction  for 
1899,  querulously  affirms  that  they  and  their  schools 
act  as  a  sort  of  drain  upon  the  natural  clients  of  the 
University.  But  why  should  they  not?  They  are 
more  successful  than  their  lay  competitors,  and  more 
deserving  of  success.  If  the  education  which  they 
give  be  very  imperfect,  and  it  is  sometimes  this  and 
more,  it  is  on  the  whole  the  best  that  is  to  be  had  in 
the  country.  I^ay  instruction  in  France  is  purely 
mechanical,  that  given  by  the  Congregations  is  living 
and  human.  Both  aim  at  cramming,  but  the  religious 
teachers  do  their  work  efficiently  and  successfully, 
their  rivals  with  a  degree  of  slovenliness  which  is  in- 

see  Figaro,  April  5  and  June  2,  1879 ;    De  Badts  de  Cugnac, 
Les  Jesuites  et  V education,  pp.  17,  19  foil. 
1    March,  1900,  p.  441. 


222  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

credible.  .  .  Under  such  conditions  one  is  not  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  the  Congregations  supply  one- 
fourth  of  the  pupils  of  the  famous  Ecole  Poly  technique, 
one-third  of  the  students  of  Saint-Cyr,  and  one-half  of 
the  graduates  of  the  Naval  School.  The  religious 
communities  have  fairly  won  these  triumphs  by  dint 
of  hard  work  under  conditions  laid  down  by  their 
enemies  and  applied  by  their  opponents." 

Twenty  years  ago  the  London  Times  had  made  a 
statement  to  the  same  effect,  when  Ferry  tried  to 
suppress  the  Jesuit  schools  in  France.  "We  should 
have  liked  to  see  a  frank  admission  on  the  part  of 
prominent  members  of  the  L,eft,  of  the  real  causes  of 
the  success  of  the  ecclesiastical  schools.  It  is  no  uset 
of  putting  it  down  to  wiles  and  artifices  of  any  kind. 
The  perversity,  or  bad  taste,  or  stupidity  of  the  multi- 
tude will  not  explain  it.  The  simple  truth  seems  to 
be  that  the  schools  of  the  Jesuits  and  other  religious 
bodies  are  better  in  many  respects  than  their  com- 
petitors. They  satisfy  parents  and  boys  more  than 
the  Lyctes  do.  The  traditional  skill  in  teaching  of 
the  Jesuits  is  not  extinct.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  at 
more  pains  than  lay  professors,  with  many  interests  to 
occupy  them,  to  know  and  study  the  nature  of  their 
pupils.  It  is  their  habit  to  pay  attention  to  the  morals 
as  well  as  the  intellectual  training  of  the  lads  com- 
mitted to  their  charge."1  Such  admissions,  coming 
from  such  sources,  speak  volumes  for  the  schools  of 
the  religious  and  of  the  Jesuits  in  particular. 

These  are  a  few  facts  about  the  results  obtained  by 
Jesuit  colleges  in  recent  years.  As  they  concern 
colleges  in  various  countries  over  -the  globe,  directed 

1    London  Times,  July  8,  1879,  p.  9. 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  igth  CENTURY.       223 

by  Jesuits  of  different  provinces  of  the  Order,  they 
bespeak  certainly  no  inefficiency  of  the  Jesuits'  teach- 
ing. Can  we  not  conclude  that,  were  there  a  similar 
system  of  public  examination  in  this  country,  the 
Jesuit  colleges  in  the  United  States  would  exhibit 
similar  success? 

On  December  12,  1900,  the  Juniors  of  a  Jesuit 
Institution,  of  Holy  Cross  College,  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts, defeated  in  a  debate  the  Juniors  of  Harvard. 
The  victory  of  Holy  Cross  was  all  the  more  remarkable 
as  Harvard  a  week  before  had  won  the  debate  from 
Yale  on  the  very  same  question,  "On  the  permanent 
retention  of  the  Philippine  Islands."  On  April  8, 
1901,  the  Freshmen  and  Sophomores  of  the  same 
College  again  came  off  victorious  in  a  debate  with  a 
Freshman-Sophomore  team  of  Brown  University.1  — 
Although  we  do  not  want  to  draw  from  such  debates 
any  conclusions  for  the  superiority  of  the  Jesuit  col- 
lege, still  they  deserve  to  be  recorded,  because  the 
Jesuit  college  was  victorious  over  Harvard,  shortly 
after  the  President  of  Harvard  University  had  charged 
the  Jesuit  colleges  with  inefficiency.2 

1  The  judges  of  the  debate  were  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Presi- 
dent of  Clark  University ;  Hon.  John  R.  Thayer,  member  of 
Congress,  and  Professor  Charles  F.  Adams  of  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Normal  School.    President  Abercombie  of  Worces- 
ter Academy  presided.  None  of  these  gentlemen  is  a  Catholic^ 

2  The  unqualified  slurs  of  President  Eliot  against  the 
Jesuit  colleges  were  ably  refuted  by  Rev.  Timothy  Brosnahan, 
S.  J.,  Professor  of  Ethics  at  Woodstock  College,  Maryland^ 
in  his  pamphlet:  President  Eliot  and  Jesuit  Colleges,   Mes- 
senger Press,  New  York,  p.  36.     The  reception  given  to  this 
booklet  was  remarkable.     We  refer  the  reader  to  a  criticism 
in  the  Bookman,  April  1900,  by  Professor  Peck  of  Columbia 
University,  N.  Y.     We  quote   only  one   little   passage   from 


224  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  American  Ecclesiastical  Review ,  August  1900, 
gave  an  account  of  the  controversy  between  President 
Eliot  and  the  Jesuit  colleges,  in  which  it  was  proved 
that  the  President's  charges  were  not  based  on  any 
facts  which  could  justify  his  measures  against  the 
Jesuit  institutions.  Professor  Eliot  had  declared,  "we 
have  had  experience  at  the  L,aw  School  of  a  consider- 
able number  of  graduates  of  Holy  Cross  and  Boston, 
and  these  graduates  have  not,  as  a  rule,  made  good 
records  at  the  School."  Now  the  truth  is  that  in  the 
ten  years  preceding  the  time  of  the  final  decision  of 
the  L,aw  School  regarding  Boston  College  (March, 
1898),  there  were  only  three  graduates  of  Boston  Col- 
lege in  the  L,aw  School,  of  whom  one  left  after  two 
years,  one  left  with  an  excellent  record  after  one  year 
on  account  of  ill-health,  and  one  completed  the  course 
and  received  his  diploma.  In  all  the  time  before  these 

Prof.  Peck's  article  :  " Altogether  we  have  not  in  a  long  time 
read  anything  which  compacts  into  so  small  a  compass  so 
much  dialectic  skill,  so  much  crisp  and  convincing  argument, 
and  so  much  educational  good  sense.  We  hope  that  President 
Eliot  has  been  reading  this  over  very  carefully  himself.  He 
has  been  so  long  an  autocrat  in  his  own  particular  microcosm 
as  apparently  to  make  him  somewhat  careless  when  he 
addresses  a  larger  public.  In  this  case  he  has  certainly  been 
evolving  argumentative  material  out  of  his  inner  conscious- 
ness, in  the  spirit  of  the  person  who  first  said  tant  pis  pour 
les  faits ;  and  it  is  just  as  well  that  for  once  in  a  way  he 
should  have  been  brought  up  with  a  good  round  turn.  As  the 
information  would  probably  never  reach  him  from  Harvard 
sources,  we  may  gently  convey  to  him  the  information  that 
throughout  the  entire  country  professional  educators,  and 
men  and  women  of  cultivation  generally,  are  immensely 
amused  at  the  cleverness  with  which  his  alleged  facts  and  his 
iridescent  theories  have  been  turned  into  a  joke." 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE}  1 9th  CENTURY.        225 

ten  years,  only  two  or  three  graduates  of  Boston  Col- 
lege entered  the  I,aw  School.  The  facts  in  the  case, 
therefore,  do  not  bear  out  President  Eliot's  statement 
that  "a  considerable  number  of  Boston  College  gradu- 
ates have  been  at  the  Law  School  and  have  made  poor 
records. ' '  President  Eliot  has  at  several  times  given 
as  his  reason  for  the  rejection  of  Boston  College  and 
Holy  Cross,  that  their  students  were  inferior.  This 
charge  has  been  answered  by  Father  Brosnahan  in  his 
paper  on  The  Relative  Merits  of  Courses  in  Catholic  and 
non-Catholic  Colleges  for  the  Baccalaureate,  read  before 
the  conference  of  Catholic  Colleges  April  1901  at 
Chicago.1  From  the  preceding  data  we  may  certainly 
conclude  that  so  far  the  " inferiority"  of  Jesuit  schools 
has  not  yet  been  proved,  and  that  the  facts  do  not 
warrant  the  assertions  about  the  "inefficiency  of  the 
Jesuit  system  for  modern  times. ' ' 

In  connection  with  the  educational  labors  of  the 
Jesuits  in  the  nineteenth  century,  we  must  not  fail  to 
mention  briefly  their  literary  and  scientific  work  during 
that  period.  There  are  several  reasons  .for  treating  of 
this  in  a  work  on  Jesuit  education.  First,  because  the 
Jesuit  scholars  are  a  product  of  the  Jesuit  system; 
secondly,  because  some  of  them  were  teachers  in  col- 
leges during  the  greater  part  of  their  lives,  and  all  for 
at  least  five  or  six  years ;  thirdly,  because  their  case 
proves  how  highly  the  Society  values,  and  how  freely 
it  cultivates  the  various  departments  of  science.  It  is 
easy  to  understand  that  the  frequent  persecutions  and 
expulsions  from  many  countries  are  most  injurious  and 

This  paper  has  been  published   separately   with   the 
title    The   Courses  leading  to  the  Baccalaureate  in  Harvard 
and  Boston  Colleges. 
15 


226  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

unfavorable  to  the  cultivation  of  science,  which  requires 
above  all  what  the  Romans  called  otium.  Moreover, 
as  the  Jesuits  lost  in  several  expulsions  even  their 
libraries,  museums,  and  observatories,  v.  g.  the  famous 
Museo  Kircheriano  in  Rome,  and  the  observatory  where 
Seech i  had  served  the  cause  of  science  for  so  many 
years,  they  were  greatly  hampered  in  their  researches. 
It  is  all  the  more  remarkable  to  see  that  the  Jesuits 
achieved  so  much  in  the  various  fields  of  science,  in 
spite  of  these  difficulties.  It  betokens  almost  a  heroic 
enthusiasm  for  science  that  these  men  patiently  con- 
tinue their  investigations  and  start  new  enterprises, 
even  in  countries  where  the  hostile  attitude  of  legis- 
lative assemblies  is  like  the  sword  of  Damocles  hang- 
ing over  them. 

In  this  brief  sketch  of  Jesuit  scholars  we  mention 
only  such  as  were  distinguished  for  productive  scholar- 
ship within  the  last  twenty -five  or  thirty  years. 
Among  the  scientists  of  this  period  we  mention  first 
Father  Angelo  Secchi,  who  was  one  of  the  foremost 
astronomical  observers  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Educated  and  trained  from  early  youth  by  the  Jesuits, 
he  soon  became  known  by  his  publications  on  solar 
physics  and  meteorology. l  He  wrote  several  impor- 
tant works,  among  them  Le  Soleil,  a  standard  work 
on  the  sun,  Les  Etoiles,  UUnitb  des  Forces  physiques, 
and  more  than  eight  hundred  articles  in  scientific 
periodicals  of  Italy,  France,  England  and  Germany.2 
He  has  been  called  "the  Father  of  Astro-physics",  on 

1  See  Nature,  London  1878,  vol.  XVII,  p.  370. 

2  Bibliography  in  SommervogePs  Bibliotheque ,  vol.  VII, 
columns  993 — 1031.      Biography   and   criticism  of    Secchi's 
greater  works,  by  Moigno,    Vie  de  Pere  Secchi,  Paris,  1879.  — 
Pohle,  P.  Angelo  Secchi,  Cologne,  1883. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THK  I9tll  CENTURY.        227 

account  of  his  spectro-scopical  observations  of  the  sun 
and  the  fixed  stars.  The  ingenious  meteorographic 
apparatus,  a  self-recording  instrument  for  meteoro- 
logical observations,  which  Father  Secchi  constructed, 
caused  a  sensation  in  the  Paris  exposition  of  1867,  and 
received  the  first  prize  ( 100,000  francs).  The  interest- 
ing instrument  is  now  in  St.  Ignatius  College,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  where  it  is  used  by  Father  Odenbach, 
S.  J. ,  for  meteorological  observations.  When  the  Pied- 
montese  took  Rome  in  1870,  the  Roman  College  and 
its  observatory  were  taken  from  the  Jesuits.  The  new 
government  did  all  in  its  power  to  separate  Father 
Secchi  from  the  cause  of  the  Pope  and  from  his  Order. 
He  was  offered  the  position  of  Director-General  of  all 
astronomical  observatories  in  Italy,  the  dignity  of 
senator,  etc.  But  all  these  flattering  offers  could  not 
estrange  the  noble  priest  from  his  benefactor  Pius  IX. , 
and  his  persecuted  Order.  He  preferred  to  remain 
loyal  to  them,  although  he  had  to  suffer  mean  and 
paltry  annoyances.  For  the  rest,  the  indignation 
roused  in  Italy  and  all  over  Europe,  prevented  the 
government  from  expelling  Father  Secchi  from  his 
beloved  observatory.  During  an  earlier  expulsion  of 
the  Jesuits  from  Italy  1848-9,  Father  Secchi  had  been 
Professor  of  physics  and  astronomy  in  Georgetown 
College,  Washington,  D.  C.  This  College  possesses 
at  present  in  Father  Hagen  a  scholar  who  is  highly 
esteemed  in  mathematical  and  astronomical  circles. 
His  great  works,  the  Atlas  Stellarum  Varidbilium  and 
his  Synopsis  der  hoheren  Mathematik,  are  most  favor- 
ably spoken  of  by  scientists.1 

1     Father  Hagen's  Synopsis  has  been  called  a  * 'splendid 
contribution  to  the  history  and   progress  of  mathematics," 


228  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Another  prominent  astronomer  was  Father  Perry, 
Professor  of  higher  mathematics  and  Director  of  the 
observatory  of  Stonyhurst  College,  England.  He  is 
especially  known,  as  was  Father  Secchi,  for  his  labors 
in  the  domain  of  solar  pl^sics.  The  English  Govern- 
ment and  learned  societies  sent  him  frequently  on 
scientific  journeys,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  it  was 
stated  that  he  had  been  employed  on  more  scientific 
expeditions  than  any  living  astronomer.  He  was  sent 
—  as  Father  Hell  in  1769  —  to  observe  the  Transit  of 
Venus  (in  1874  and  1882),  further,  to  observe  the 
total  eclipses  in  1870,  1886,  1887,  and  1889.  It  was 
on  the  expedition  of  1889,  on  H.  M.  S.  Comus,  that 
Father  Perry  died,  a  martyr  for  the  cause  of  science. 
Scientific  men  spoke  with  admiration  of  the  pains- 
taking preparations  of  his  expeditions,  his  accuracy 
and  skill  in  observations,  and  his  enthusiastic  love  for 

Nature,  London,  June  7,  1894;  "a  colossal  enterprise,"  Re- 
vue Bibliographique  Beige,  Sept.  30,  1891;  "a  really  grand 
work,"  Professor  Cantor,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  Mathematik  und 
Physik  (hist.-lit.  Abth.),  XXXVII,  4,  p.  151.  "One  must  be 
astonished  how  one  man  can  master  such  an  amount  of  learn- 
ing," Zeitschrift  fur  math,  undnaturzv.  Unterricht,  XXVII, 
p.  43.  The  American  Annals  of  Mathematics  (1893,  vol.  VII, 
No.  3)  call  it  a  "monumental  work"  and  say:  "A  more  use- 
ful labor  than  this  in  the  present  condition  of  mathematical 
literature  can  hardly  be  imagined ;  moreover,  it  calls  for  all 
but  the  very  highest,  that  is  creative  mathematical  power; 
in  particular,  for  immense  erudition ;  an  unerring  logical 
instinct...,  but  above  all  for  untiring  industry,  etc."  — 
Father  Hagen's  Atlas  Stellarum  Variabilium  was  also  highly 
praised,  v.  g.  in  the  Bulletin  Astronomique,  1900;  in  the 
Vierteljahrsschrift,  XXXV ;  in  the  Leipzig  Litterarische 
Centralbfatt,  1900,  No.  4,  and  1902,  No.  26. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.        229 

Among  the  living  astronomers  in  England 
Fathers  Sidegraves  and  Cortie  deserve  to  be  men- 
tioned. 

In  recent  years  the  Society  has  extensively  gone 
into  the  field  of  meteorology.  Seventeen  stations 
are  devoted  exclusively  to  meteorology,  or  at  least 
making  it  a  prominent  feature.  They  are  :  Stony- 
hurst  (England),  Jersey  (Channel  Islands),  Rome, 
Kalocsa  (Hungary),  Malta,  Burgos,  Manila, 
Zi-ka-wai  (China),  Calcutta,  Ambohidempona  (near 
Tananarive,  Madagascar),  Bulawayo,  Boroma,  La 
Granada,  Havana,  Cleveland  (Ohio),  Saltillo, 
Puebla  (Mexico).  Some  of  them  have  a  name. 
A  few  details  about  the  observatory  of  Manila 
will  interest  American  readers.  It  consists  of  four 
departments:  astronomical,  meteorological,  seismical, 
and  magnetic.  The  scientific  publications  of  this  ob- 
servatory have  been  praised  in  scientific  journals  (v.  g. 
American  Meteorological  Journal,  vol.  X,  June  1893, 
p.  100 ;  id.,  vol.  XII,  Febr.  1896,  p.  326. — Meteoro- 
logische  Zeitschrift,  Nov.  1887,  p.  366;  Oct.  1898, 
p.  64,  etc.).  The  commercial  world  in  Eastern  Asia 
appreciates  its  typhoon  warnings.  During  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  Dr.  Doberck,  Director  of  the  Observa- 
tory at  Hongkong,  addressed  the  Weather  Bureau  of 
the  United  States  Government,  saying  that  "the  Ob- 
servatory of  Manila  is  in  the  hands  of  men  who  pos- 
sess very  little  scientific  education  and  cause  scandal 
by  communicating  sensational  typhoon  warnings  to 
the  newspapers  in  Hongkong/'  The  effect  of  this 

1  See  the  encomiums  bestowed  on  him  by  Protestant 
writers  in  the  English  Mechanic  (Jan.  25,  1890);  Nature, 
vol.  XXXXI,  pp.  279-280.  The  Observatory,  Monthly  Notices 
flhe  Royal  Astronomical  Society y  vol.  L,  n.  4, 


230  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

accusation  was  that  the  Jesuits  were  forbidden  to  send 
out  any  such  warnings.  When  matters  were  investi- 
gated, it  turned  out  that  the  Manila  warnings  had 
indeed  very  often  contradicted  those  of  Mr.  Doberck, 
but  that  the  events  invariably  proved  the  correctness 
of  the  Manila  observations.  The  Eastern  newspapers: 
The  Hongkong  Telegraph,  China  Mail,  Manila  Times, 
Daily  Press,  strongly  denounced  Dr.  Doberck,  and 
rendered  a  brilliant  testimony  to  the  labors  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  especially  their  invaluable  typhoon  warn- 
ings. On  November  2,  1898,  the  Rev.  Jos.  Algue, 
Director  of  the  Observatory,  received  the  following 
notice:  "Rear- Admiral  Dewey  desires  me  to  thank 
you  for  your  courtesy  in  giving  him  such  complete 
information  concerning  your  t}^phoon  predictions, 
which  he  has  found  in  every  case  to  be  correct. 
(Signed)  Flag  Secretary."  On  February  2,  1899, 
a  letter  was  sent  to  the  Director  of  the  Observatory, 
from  the  Flag-ship  Olympia,  which  concludes:  "I  trust 
that  the  United  States  Government  will  make  the 
necessary  provisions  for  the  continuance  of  the  institu- 
tion which  you  conduct  in  such  an  able  manner,  and 
which  has  proved  itself  to  be  so  great  a  benefit  to 
maritime  interests  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Very 
truly  yours,  George  Dewey,  Rear- Admiral  U.  S.  N."1 
The  work  done  by  the  Jesuits  at  the  Manila  Obser- 
vatory and  all  over  the  islands,  may  be  seen  from 
two  volumes  with  accompanying  atlas  of  thirty  maps.2 

1.  From  a  letter  of  Father  Algue,  Woodstock.  Letters,  1899, 
pp.  213-225. 

2  A  Collection  of  Geographical,  Statistical,  Chronologi- 
cal, and  Scientific  Data  relating  to  the  Philippine  Isles, 
either  collected  from  former  works,  or  obtained  by  the  per- 
sonal observation  and  study  of  some  Fathers  of  the  Society 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.       231 

The  work  treats  of  the  geography  [of  the  islands, 
climatology,  seismology,  and  terrestrial  magnetism. 
Professor  Henry  S.  Pritchett,  the  Superintendent  of 
the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  tells  us  that 
"to  the  admirable  work  of  the  Jesuits  is  due  practical- 
ly all  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  interior  of 
Mindanao."  Father  Algue's  work  on  the  cyclones  of 
the  Philippine  Archipelago  is  the  standard  work  on 
that  subject.1 

In  1891  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences  awarded 
prizes  to  the  Jesuits  in  Madagascar,  in  recognition  of 
their  great  service  rendered  by  their  astronomical  and 
meteorological  observations.  Two  years  previous  an- 
other Jesuit  had  received  a  prize  of  ten  thousand  francs 
for  his  geographical  maps  of  the  interior  of  the  island; 
and  last  year,  1901,  the  very  year  which  witnessed 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  Republic,  another 
Jesuit,  Father  Stanislaus  Chevalier,  by  unanimous 
vote  of  the  commission  of  the  French  Academy,  re- 
ceived the  prize  of  3000  francs  for  his  meteorological 

of  Jesus.     Printed  at  the  Government  Press,  Washington,  D. 
C.,  1900. 

1  The  best  recommendation  for  this  work  is  the  fact 
that  the  French  Ministry  of  Marine  had  it  immediately  trans- 
lated into  French.  In  1900  there  appeared  an  Knglish  and  a 
German  work  (Bremen  and  Shanghai)  on  the  same  subject, 
"based  on  that  of  J.  Algu6,"  as  the  preface  has  it.  But  as 
the  name  of  the  author  is  given  that  of  Professor  Bergholz. 
Now  this  work  —  it  sounds  almost  incredible — is  nothing  but 
an  abridged  translation  of  Father  Algue's  work.  This  has 
quite  recently  been  pointed  out  by  Professor  Nippoldt  of  the 
Magnetical  Observatory  of  Potsdam,  in  Petermanrf 's  Mitthei- 
lungen,  September  1902.  {Kolnische  Volkszeitung,  Wochen- 
ausgabe,  Oct.  23,  1902,  p.  3.)  This  is  evidently  a  proof  of 
what  we  said  above,  p.  154,  note  2. 


232  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  astronomical  publications. ]  In  a  recent  work, 
"Kiautschou",  published  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
German  Emperor,  a  high  tribute  is  paid  to  the  scien- 
tific labors,  especially  the  astronomical  and  meteorological 
observations,  of  the  Jesuits  in  Zi-ka-wei,  and  the  German 
official  who  bestows  this  eulogy  on  them,  declares  that 
he  is  not  a  friend  of  the  Jesuits. 

In  other  fields  of  natural  sciences,  the  Jesuits  are 
working  most  diligently,  and  their  labors  are  appre- 
ciated by  the  scientific  world.  "The  best  book  on 
mechanics  is  that  of  the  Jesuit  Jullien,"  so  says  a 
Protestant  scholar. 2  Another  writes  of  an  Austrian 
Jesuit:  "Father  Braun,  the  distinguished  Director  of 
the  Observatory  of  Kalocsa  in  Hungary,  furnished 
some  of  the  most  ingenious  experiments  for  establish- 
ing the  density  of  the  earth.  His  works  are  a  remark- 
able proof  for  the  scientific  energy  of  the  man,  and  the 
spirit  of  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  science. ' ' 3  In  June 
1900,  Father  Hillig  of  Canisius  College,  Buffalo 
(New  York),  published  a  catalogue  of  the  most  prom- 
inent Jesuit  museums.  He  enumerates  about  sixty, 
scattered  all  over  the  world. 

Several  Jesuits  are  distinguished  biologists,  among 
them  the  German  Father  Erich  Wasmann,  one  of  the 
foremost  entomologists  of  modern  times.  His  numer- 
ous publications  on  the  beetles  living  commensally 
with  ants  and  termites,  have  been  styled  "classic"  by 
the  leading  English,  German  and  French  scientific 

1  Kolnische  Volkszeitung  (Wochen-Ausgabe),  January  2, 
1902. 

2  Budde,  Allgemeine  Mechanik,  vol.  II,  p.  496.     (Berlin, 
1892.) 

3  Himmel  nnd  Erde,  Berlin,  June  1898. 


EDUCATION  IN  THE  IQth  CENTURY.       233 

reviews. 1  Of  his  work  on  ' '  Arthropoda' '  the  Canadian 
Entomologist  says:  "Dr.  Wasmann  has  given  us  the 
greatest  contribution  on  this  interesting  subject  ever 
made,  and  one  that  must  become  a  classic  in  Ento- 
mology. ' ' 2  Other  prominent  biologists  are  the  French 
Father  Panthel  who  received  the  prix  de  Thore  from 
the  Institut  de  France  for  an  anatomical  work  pub- 
lished in  1898;  the  Dutch  Father  Bolsius,  an  authority 
in  microscopic  anatomy;  the  Belgian  Father  Dierkx,x 
whose  important  researches  on  morphology  are  pub- 
lished in  La  Celulle  (L,ouvain,  1890 — 1900).  These 
names  suffice  to  prove  that  the  Jesuits  are  by  no  means 
"enemies  of  progress  and  intolerant  of  everything 
new,"  as  M.  Compayre  represents  them. 

Other  departments  of  modern  science  are  success- 
fully cultivated  by  Jesuits.  We  mention  only"  Father 
Strassmaier,  who  by  experts  is  called  one  of  the  first 
Assyriologists. 3  Recently  Father  Dahlmann  is  be- 
coming very  prominent  by  publications  on  Indian  and 
Chinese  philosophy.  His  works  have  been  greatly 
praised  by  Professor  Max  Miiller  of  Oxford  and  other 
Orientalists.  On  the  field  of  literature  we  call  atten- 
tion to  a  recent  production  of  the  German  Jesuit 
Baumgartner :  History  of  Universal  Literature.*  Sel- 

1  See,  v.  g.,  Nature,  London  1901,  Dec.  12,  p.  136;  and 
Professor  Wheeler  of    Texas   University  in  the  American 
Naturalist,  1901,  vol.  XXXV,  414—418. 

2  Canadian  Entomologist,  January  1895,  p.  23. 

3  See   Oppert   in  Le   Telegraphe,  Nov.  27,   1887.  —  Dr. 
Bezold  in    Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur  Kunde  des  Morgenlandes, 
vol.  II,  p.  78.  —  Hugo  Winkler  in  the  Berliner philosophische 

Wochenschrift,  1888,  p.  851. 

4  Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur.    Up  to  1900  four  volumes 
were  out:  1)  Literature  of  Western  Asia  and  the  Countries 
of  the  Nile.     2)  Literature  of  India  and  Kan  fern  Asia  (China 


234  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

dom  has  a  work  been  praised  so  highly  by  men  of  the 
different  creeds  and  nationalities.  Protestant  reviews 
have  been,  we  may  say,  as  enthusiastic  as  those  of 
Catholics,  on  this  "opera  gigantesca" ,  as  an  Italian 
reviewer  has  styled  it.  One  Protestant  Review  (  Wester- 
mann's  Monatshefte)  says:  "No  similar  work  can  be 
compared  to  Baumgartner's  in  thoroughness,  variety, 
and  above  all  in  directness. ' '  l  The  same  author  has 
published  some  splendid  volumes  on  Goethe  (3  vols.), 
Lessing,  Calderon,  Jost  van  den  Vondel,  and  Long- 
fellow. Father  L,onghaye's  Histoire  de  la  literature 
franqaise  au  XVII e  si&cle  (2  volumes)  was  awarded  a 
prize  by  the  French  Academy  in  1901. 

A  very  distinguished  historian  is  Father  Ehrle, 
Prefect  of  the  Vatican  Library,  author  of  the  great 
Historia  Bibliothecae  Pontificum  and  co-editor  of  the 
Archiv  filr  mittelalterliche  Geschichte  und  Litteratur. 
Father  Grisar  is  a  leading  author  on  Christian 
Archaeology.  His  latest  work  on  the  History  of  Rome 
is  a  worthy  rival  of  Gregorovius's  famous  work. 2 
The  Belgian  Jesuits  continue  the  colossal  work  of  the 
Old  Society,  the  "Bollandists",  or  Ada  Sanctorum,  a 
work  of  prime  importance  for  the  history  of  the  whole 

and  Japan).  3)  Greek  and  Latin  Literature  of  Classical  An- 
tiquity.  4)  Latin  and  Greek  Literature  of  Christian  Nations. 
The  coming  volumes  will  treat  of  the  Literature  of  Italy, 
Spain,  Portugal,  France,  Poland,  Russia,  Holland,  Sweden, 
Norway,  Iceland,  England,  Germany. 

1  See  some  other  criticisms  of  leading  Protestant  papers 
in  The  Review,  St.  Louis,  June  6,  1901 :  ' 'Protestant  Criticism 
of  a  Recent  Catholic  Work." 

2  Geschichte  Roms  und  der  Pdpstc,  "a  publication  of  the 
very  first  rank,  as  indispensable  as  the  work  of  Gregorovius." 
{Allgemeine  Zeittmg,  Munich  1899,  No.  45.)  — Neue  Preussi- 
sche  Zeitung,  Berlin  1900,  No.  608. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  1 9th  CENTURY.       235 

Christian  Era.  Of  the  sixty-two  folio  volumes  of  this 
gigantic  collection,  nine  were  published  since  I845.1 

As  writers  on  Ethics  we  mention  Father  Castelein 
and  Father  Cathrein2;  on  philosophy  the  English 
Jesuits  Clarke,  Rickaby,  Maher  (Stonyhurst  Series). 
Father  Maher 's  Psychology  recently  received  the  note 
"Special  Excellence"  by  the  University  of  lyondon, 
and  the  author,  the  degree  of  "Doctor  of  Literature". 
And  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  book  contains  a 
very  energetic  criticism  of  the  works  most  favored  by 
the  University,  including,  indeed,  the  writings  of  both 
the  examiners  themselves.  We  could  add  scores  of 
distinguished  writers  on  theology,  but  we  wish  to  con- 
fine ourselves  to  publications  which  have  favorably 
appealed  to  Protestants.  In  1900  the  Society  con- 
ducted more  than  one  hundred  periodicals.  Although 
a  great  number  of  them  are  chiefly  religious  magazines 
(as  the  ably  written  Messenger,  New  York),  there  are 
also  several  scientific  periodicals.  Some  reviews,  as  the 
Month  in  England,  the  Etudes  religieuses  in  France, 
the  Civilta  Cattolica  in  Italy,  the  Stimmen  aus  Maria- 
Laach  (with  valuable  scientific  supplements),  the 
Theologische  Zeitschrift  (Innsbruck),  the  Razdn  y  Fe 
in  Spain,  the  Analecta  Bollandiana  in  Belgium,  are 
representative  literary  and  scientific  periodicals. 

A  splendid  tribute  was  paid,  in  January  1902,  to 
the  scientific  activity  of  the  German  Jesuits.  Deputy 

1  See  above  p.  161. 

2  Cathrein,  Moralphilosophie,  2  vols.  —  Socialism.    The 
English  translation  of  the  latter  work  is  by  Father  James 
Conway,  S.  J.    Cathrein's  works  are  highly  praised  by  Cossa- 
Dyer,  Political  Economy,  London,  189B,  where  it  is  said  that 
"they  cannot  easily  be  valued  too  highly/' 


236  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Spahn,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Empire, 
and  a  prominent  member  of  the  German  Parliament, 
pleaded  in  the  Reichstag  for  the  re-admission  of  the 
Jesuits  into  Germany.  In  the  course  of  his  brilliant 
speech  he  spoke  thus  of  the  literary  and  scientific  work 
of  the  German  Jesuits:  "In  whatever  branch  scien- 
tific progress  has  been  made  during  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  German  Jesuits  are  distinguished  con- 
tributors. In  history  we  have  Father  Ehrle,  Prefect 
of  the  Vatican  Library,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
Archives  for  Medieval  History  and  Literature,  and  author 
of  the  great  Historia  Bibliothecae  Pontificum  ;  Father 
Braunsberger,  whose  Epistulae  et  Ada  Canisii  have 
been  called  by  Protestant  historians  a  most  valuable 
contribution  to  the  history  of  the  Reformation.  Then 
we  have  Father  Beissel's  numerous  publications  on 
Christian  art ;  Father  Baumgartner's  magnificent 
History  of  Universal  Literature,  and  many  other  liter- 
ary productions  by  the  same  author.  Father  Kreiten's 
critical  essays ;  the  many  volumes  of  the  Analecta 
Hymnica  Medii  Aevi  by  Fathers  Dreves  and  Blume ; 
the  five  volumes  on  Aesthetics  by  Fathers  Gietmann 
and  Sorensen  ;  the  philological  writings  of  Father  Fox 
on  Demosthenes.  Father  Strassmaier,  the  Assyrio- 
logist,  deciphered  over  three  thousand  Babylonian 
cuneiform,  inscriptions,  more  than  any  German  Acad- 
emy has  ever  done  in  that  line.  Father  Epping  found 
the  key  to  the  astronomical  computations  and  observa- 
tions of  the  Babylonians,  and  his  work  is  successfully 
continued  by  Father  Kugler.  Father  Dahlmann  is 
one  of  the  very  first  authorities  in  the  field  of  antiqui- 
ties of  India.  In  natural  sciences  we  have  the  famous 
Father  Wasrnann,  the  entomologist.  In  physics  Father 


JESUIT  EDUCATION  IN  THE  iqttl  CENTURY.       237 

Dressel  is  eminent,  and  in  pure  mathematics  and 
astronomy  Father  Hagen,  director  of  the  Georgetown 
Observatory,  author  of  the  Synopsis  of  Mathematics 
and  of  the  Atlas  Stellarum  Variabilium.  We  find 
among  these  Jesuits  several  prominent  writers  on 
geography,  and  it  is  only  a  few  months  ago  that 
Father  Fischer,  Professor  of  geography  at  Feldkirch, 
discovered  the  map  on  which  the  New  World  bears 
for  the  first  time  the  title  'America'.  The  well-known 
moralist  Father  L,ehrnkuhl  has  written  an  excellent 
commentary  on  the  new  code  of  Germany,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  to  advocate  this  new  code.  The  various 
publications  of  the  German  Jesuits  on  the  social 
question  are  continually  working  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  existing  social  and  political  order. ' ' 

Many  other  names  deserve  to  be  added  to  these 
mentioned  by  Deputy  Spahn.  Father  Meyer,  by  his 
German  writings,  has  exerted  a  great  influence  on 
Catholic  writers  in  Ethics.  Father  Cathrein  has  pub- 
lished various  important  works  on  the  same  subject, 
and  one  of  the  very  best  works  extant  on  the  social 
question.  On  the  latter  subject  we  possess  several 
excellent  works  from  the  pen  of  Father  Henry  Pesch. 
Father  Stiglmayr's  critical  studies  of  the  writings  of 
Pseudo-Dionysius  Areopagita  (he  assigns  these  works 
to  the  fifth  century),  have  recently  been  called  <( bril- 
liant researches  which  have  definitely  settled  this  long 
discussed  question. ' ' 1 

Between  1881  and  1900  the  German  Jesuits  alone 
published  six  hundred  and  seven  books,  some  of  which 
are,  as  we  heard  before,  classics  in  their  respective 
fields.  Three  of  these  writers  have,  within  the  last 

1    Bardenhewer,  Patrologie  (1901),  p.  474. 


238  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

few  years,  been  elected  members  by  celebrated  Acade- 
mies of  Science  :  Father  Wasmann  by  the  Russian 
Imperial  Academy  of  St.  Petersburg  ;  Father  Baum- 
gartner  by  the  Belgian  Royal  Academy  of  Ghent ;  and 
Father  Ehrle,  in  November  1901,  by  the  Prussian 
Royal  Academy  of  Gottingen. 

The  favorable  criticisms  on  Jesuit  publications, 
quoted  on  the  preceding  pages,  are  almost  exclusively 
by  Protestant  scholars  of  highest  repute.  Are  these 
facts  unknown,  or  are  they  studiously  ignored,  by 
certain  writers  who  are  so  loud  in  belittling  Jesuit 
education  and  scholarship  ?  We  readily  confess  that 
Jesuit  scholarship  has  not  yet  regained  that  brilliant 
position  which  it  enjoyed  in  the  first  centuries  of  the 
existence  of  the  Order ;  the  reasons  for  this  have  been 
mentioned.  We  also  admit  that  the  eulogies  bestowed 
on  the  literary  and  scientific  success  of  the  older  Jesuit 
institutions  are  not  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  the 
Jesuit  system  is  equally  efficient  in  modern  times. 
But  we  think  this  last  point  is  proved  by  what  has 
been  said  in  this  present  chapter.  It  certainly  proves 
that  the  Jesuits  do  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  laurels 
of  their  predecessors,  but  that  they  strenuously  struggle 
to  keep  abreast  with  the  scientific  progress  of  the 
nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries.  The  testimonies 
adduced  are  all  the  more  remarkable,  if  we  keep  in 
mind  the  most  discouraging  circumstances  under 
which  the  Jesuits  had  to  labor,  and  the  coldness  and 
antipathy  with  which  the  works  of  the  Jesuits  are 
ordinarily  viewed  by  non-Catholic  writers.  This  leads 
us  to  a  rather  sad  chapter  in  the  history  of  Jesuit 
education,  in  which  we  have  to  speak  of  the  opposition 
which  the  educational  work  of  the  Society  had  to  en- 
counter in  all  centuries. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Opposition  to  Jesuit  Education. 

Nothing  in  the  whole  history  of  education  after  the 
Reformation  is  more  striking  than  the  difference  of 
opinions  about,  and  the  attitude  assumed  towards,  the 
educational  system  of  the  Society.  We  have  heard 
that  the  Protestant  King  Frederick  II.  of  Prussia,  and 
the  Schismatical  Empress  Catharine  II.  of  Russia, 
protected  the  Jesuit  schools,  at  a  time  when  the  Bour- 
bon Kings  ruthlessly  destroyed  all  Jesuit  colleges 
within  their  realms.  In  the  nineteenth  century  the 
Jesuits  were  repeatedly  expelled  from  Catholic  coun- 
tries, as  from  France,  and  were  allowed  to  labor  un- 
disturbedly within  the  vast  British  Dominion  and  in 
other  Protestant  countries.  However,  this  tolerant 
attitude  was  not  always  taken  by  Protestant  rulers. 
The  penal  laws  of  England  against  the  Catholics  are 
well  known.  The  Jesuits  were  always  mentioned  as 
particularly  hateful.  Thus  one  statute  under  Elizabeth 
(27  EHz.  c.  2),  provided  that  "all  Jesuits  and  other 
priests,  ordained  by  the  authority  of  the  See  of  Rome, 
should  depart  from  the  realm  within  forty  days,  and 
that  no  such  person  should  hereafter  be  suffered  to 
come  into  or  remain  in  any  of  the  dominions  of  the 
crown  of  Great  Britain,  under  penalties  of  high 
treason. ' ' 

Special  laws  were  enacted  to  prevent  Catholics 
from  sending  their  children  to  foreign  schools.  "Any 
other  of  her  majesty's  subjects,"  says  the  same  statute, 
(239) 


240  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

"who  hereafter  shall  be  brought  up  in  any  foreign 
popish  seminary,  who  within  six  months  after  pro- 
clamation does  not  return  into  the  realm,  shall  be  ad- 
judged a  traitor.  Persons,  directly  or  indirectly,  con- 
tributing to  the  maintenance  of  Romish  ecclesiastics 
or  popish  seminaries  beyond  the  sea  incur  the  penalties 
of  praemunire.  And  still  further  this  statute  enacts, 
that  no  one  during  her  majesty's  life  shall  send  his 
child  or  ward  beyond  the  sea,  without  special  license, 
under  forfeiture  of  one  hundred  pounds  for  every 
offence. ' ' l  James  I.  had  a  law  passed  providing  that 
"persons  going  beyond  sea  to  any  Jesuit  seminary 
were  rendered,  as  respects  themselves,  incapable  of 
purchasing  or  enjoying  any  lands  etc."2  The  same 
laws  were  enacted  again  under  William  III. 3  The 
schools  of  the  Jesuits  on  the  continent  which  were 
chiefly  affected  by  these  laws,  were  the  great  colleges 
of  St.  Omer  and  L,iege. 

In  various  places  on  the  continent  laws  were  made 
forbidding  parents  to  send  their  children  to  Jesuit 
schools.  Thus  Duke  Ulrich  of  Brunswick,  "moved 
by  his  paternal  care  and  affection  for  all  his  subjects, 
high  and  low,  in  order  to  counteract  the  cunning 
plans  and  bloody  designs  of  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel, 
particularly  of  the  Jesuits,"  issued  a  decree  in  1617, 
strictly  forbidding  his  subjects  to  send  their  children 
to  Jesuit  schools,  as  not  a  few  had  done  before.  Those 
who  should  in  future  "act  so  inconsiderately,"  were 
threatened  with  confiscation  of  all  their  property  and 

1  The  History  of  the  Penal  Laws  enacted  against  the 
Roman  Catholics,  by  R.  R.  Madden,  L,oiidoii  1847,  p.  154. 

2  /£.,  p.  169. 
s    Ib.,  p.  232. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION.  241 

other  penalties.1  Similar  laws,  enacted  in  Branden- 
burg and  Prussia,  have  been  mentioned  in  a  previous 
chapter.2 

But  the  difference  in  public  opinion  is  not  less 
remarkable  than  that  manifested  by  the  attitude  of 
governments  and  rulers  towards  the  Society.  No 
other  institution  has  been  so  often  the  theme  of  the 
most  high-flown  panegyric  and  of  the  most  bitter  in- 
vective as  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Its  admirers,  and  not 
a  few  Protestants\were  among  these,  have  proclaimed 
it  as  an  establishment  of  the  utmost  utility  to  learning, 
morals,  religion,  and  state.  It  may  even  be  admitted 
that  some  have  been  extravagant  in  their  praises  of 
the  Society  and  its  labors.  On  the  other  hand,  its 
enemies  see  in  it  an  assemblage  of  ambitious  men 
who,  under  the  disguise  of  hypocrisy,  aim  at  nothing 
but  universal  dominion,  which  they  endeavor  to  ob- 
tain by  most  odious  and  criminal  means,  to  the  detri- 
ment of  morality,  religion  and  society.  "Perhaps  no 
body  of  men  in  Europe,"  says  Quick,  "have  been  so 
hated  as  the  Jesuits. ' ' 3 

So  many  accusations  have  been  advanced  against 
the  Jesuits  that  it  would  take  a  volume  of  considerable 
size  merely  to  enumerate  them.  Years  ago  Bishop 
Ketteler  of  Mentz  publicly  remonstrated  against  '  'that 
continued  crime  of  systematic  calumny  against  the 
Society. "  The  Jesuits  have  been  defended  and  ex- 

1  Koldewey,     Braunschweigische     Schulordnungen,     in 
Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica,  vol.  VII,  pp.  138 — 139. 

2  See  pp.  146—148.     However,  it  is  but  fair  to  add  that 
Catholic  rulers,  v.  g.  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria,  forbade  their  sub- 
jects to  send  their  sons  to  foreign  Protestant  schools.  Janssen, 
vol.  IV,  (16.  ed.)  p.  464. 

8    Educational  Reformers,  p.  64. 
16 


242  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

onerated  of  the  charges  by  thousands  of  prominent 
Catholics  and  by  distinguished  Protestants,  and  yet 
the  muddy  stream  of  calumny  flows  on ;  the  old 
charges  are  repeated  and  new  ones  are  fabricated 
almost  daily,  and  believed.  It  is  customary  now-a- 
days  to  sneer  at  the  credulity  of  former  ages,  at  the 
superstition  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  witch  panic 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  However, 
our  age  has  little  reason  to  look  down  superciliously 
on  the  benighted  people  of  times  gone  by,  for  there  is 
among  us,  and  even  in  circles  that  lay  claim  to  en- 
lightenment, a  great  deal  of  superstition  and  credulity; 
only  the  forms  and  the  objects  of  credulity  are  different 
from  those  of  former  ages.  In  fact,  the  "Jesuit  panic" 
has  been  called  a  chronic  disease  of  modern  times,  and 
the  credulity  manifested  in  accepting  implicitly  the 
most  absurd  charges  against  the  Society  is  stupen- 
dous. 

Whenever  a  person  is  indicted  for  a  crime  we 
demand  that  he  be  given  a  fair  trial;  we  want  to  hear 
and  examine  impartially  the  whole  of  the  evidence 
against  him,  before  we  pronounce  him  guilty.  In  the 
case  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  we  have  a  body  of  fifteen 
thousand  men,  who  devote  their  lives  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  Christianity,  the  civilization  of  savages,  and 
the  education  of  youth.  Almost  every  day  they 
are  maligned  in  books,  papers  and  public  speeches. 
No  evidence  is  asked  for;  the  ordinary  demands  of 
prudence  and  justice  are  set  aside;  it  is  enough  to 
hurl  accusations  against  the  Jesuits,  and  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  willingly  believe  them.  This 
is  no  exaggeration.  One  need  only  read  the  most 
popular  books  on  education  to  become  convinced  of 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  243 

this  fact.  The  open  calumnies  and  malicious  insinua- 
tions against  that  work  of  the  Society,  which  is  especi- 
ally dear  to  every  Jesuit,  viz.  the  education  of  youth, 
are  simply  appalling. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  mention  all  the  charges 
made  against  the  educational  system  of  the  Jesuits; 
nor  do  we  think  it  necessary.  For,  some  accusations 
are  so  ridiculous  that  to  hear  them  stated,  should  be 
enough  for  any  thoughtful  man  to  disbelieve  them. 
Further,  they  are  so  clearly  opposed  to  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  of  the  Order,  and  so  emphatically  contra- 
dicted by  its  official  documents,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  men  can,  for  a  moment,  consider  them  even 
probable.  Lastly ,  they  are  so  varied  and  so  contradictory 
that  they  easily  elude  us.  What  one  says,  is  direct^  or 
indirectly  denied  by  another.  It  will  be  very  instruc- 
tive to  put  a  few  statements  in  parallel  columns. 

"They     [the     Jesuits]          "They  were  indeed  far 
completely  revolutionized     too  much  bent  on  being 
education  by  fearless  in-      popular  to  be  innovators.  * ' 
novations. ' ' — Rev.  W.  M.      — Quick,  Educ.  Reformers, 
Sloane    (Princeton),    The     p.  506. 
French  Revolution  and  Re- 
ligious Reform,  p.  n. 

The  curriculum  of  Jes-  "The  shrewd  disciples 

uit  colleges  "has remained  of    L,oyola    adapt    them- 

almost  unchanged  for  four  selves  to  the  times,  and 

hundred  years,  disregard-  are  full  of  compassion  for 

ing  some  trifling  conces-  human  weakness. '  '-Cotn- 

sions  made  to  natural  sci-  payre,  Hist,  of  Fed., p.  140. 

ences." — President  Eliot,  Since  1832  "in  mathe- 

Atlantic  Monthly,  October  matics  and  natural  scien- 

1899.  ces  proper  attention  is  to 


244 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


be  given  to  the  recent 
progress  made  in  those 
branches.  In  the  lower 
classes  new  provisions  are 
made  for  learning  modern 
languages,  both  the  ver- 
nacular and  foreign,  and 
for  the  study  of  history. ' ' 
—Kiddle  and  Scheni,  The 
Cyclopedia  of  Education, 
article  ''Jesuits,"  p.  492. 


"  Another  instance  of 
uniform  prescribed  educa- 
tion may  be  found  in  the 
curriculum  of  Jesuit  col- 
leges". .  .  .  But  "the  im- 
mense deepening  and  ex- 
panding of  human  know- 
ledge in  the  nineteenth 
century  and  the  increas- 
ing sense  of  the  sanctity  of 
the  individual's  gifts  and 
will-power  have  made  uni- 
form prescriptions  of  study 
in  secondary  schools  im- 
possible and  absurd." — 
President  Eliot  (in  1899). 


''The  Ratio  Studiorum 
is  antiquated  and  difficult 
to  reform.  .  .  .  We  have 
little  to  hope  for  them  in 
the  improvement  of  edu- 


"A  uniform  course  of 
study  for  all  schools  of  a 
particular  grade,  and  a 
common  standard  for  pro- 
motion and  graduation, 
can  be  made  most  ser- 
viceable in  a  national 
scheme  of  education." — 
Dr.  Russell,  Columbia 
University,  (in  1899), 
German  Higher  Schools,  p. 
409. 


"A  republic  is  a  field 
far  more  inviting  than  a 
monarchy  for  the  agency 
of  an  organization  so  vast, 
so  able,  so  secret,  so  adap- 


OPPOSITION  TO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 


245 


cation  at  present. ' ' — Oscar 
Browning,  Encyclopedia 
Britannica,)  article  "Edu- 
cation. ' ' 


live  as  that  of  the  Jesuits. ' ' 
—Prof.  N.  Porter,  (Yale 
College) ,  Educational  Sys- 
tems of  the  Puritans  and 
Jesuits  compared,  p.  79. 


"For  the  Jesuits,  edu- 
cation is  reduced  to  a 
superficial  culture  of  the 
brilliant  faculties  of  the 
intelligence. '  '-Compayre, 
1.  c.j  p.  139. 


"To  write  in  L,atin  is 
the  ideal  which  they  pro- 
pose to  their  pupils  .... 
the  first  consequence  of 
this  is  the  proscription  of 
the  mother  tongue. ' '  — 
Compa3^re,  //.  of  P.,  p. 
144. 

"The  Jesuits  were  hos- 
tile to  the  mother  tongue, 
and  distrusting  the  influ- 
ence of  its  association  they 
studiously  endeavored  to 
supplant  it." — Painter,  A 
Hist,  of  Ed.,  p.  120. 


"Thoroughness  in  work 
was  the  one  thing  in- 
sisted on." — Quick,  I.  c., 
p.  46. 

"With  such  standards 
of  scholarship  the  methods 
of  instruction  will  natur- 
ally be  rigorous  and 
thorough. "  —  Cf .  Porter, 
1.  c.,  p.  55. 


"Instruction  in  the  ver- 
nacular language  was  in- 
corporated with  the  course 
of  instruction  in  1703,  and 
in  1756  the  colleges  in 
Germany  were  advised  to 
devote  as  much  attention 
to  German  as  to  Latin 
and  Greek. '  '—Kiddle  and 
Schem,  The  Cyclopedia  of 
Education,  p.  493. 


"Preoccupied  before  all 
else  with    purely   formal 


"In    mathematics    and 
the  natural   sciences,    he 


246 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


studies,  the  Jesuits  leave 
real  and  concrete  studies 
in  entire  neglect.  History 
is  almost  wholly  banished 
from  their  programme. ' ' — 
Compayre,  I,  c.,  p.  144. 

'  'The  sciences  and  phil- 
osophy are  involved  in 
the  same  disdain  as  his- 
tory."— Ib.,  p.  145. 


"The  Jesuits  maintain 
the  abuse  of  the  memory. ' 7 
Ib.j  p.  140. 


"What  the  Jesuits  did 
in  the  matter  of  secondary 
instruction,  with  immense 
resources  and  for  the  pu- 
pils who  paid  them  for 
their  efforts,  I^a  Salle  at- 
tempted ...  for  pupils  who 
did  not  pay. '  '—Compayre, 
Z.  c.,  p.  258. 


"They  sought  to  reach 
sons  of  princes,  noblemen 
and  others  who  constituted 


[the  Jesuit  pupil]  will  be 
the  master  of  what  he 
professes  to  know.  ...  In 
logic  and  grammar,  in 
geography  and  history  he 
will  be  drilled  to  such  a 
control  of  what  he  learns, 
that  it  shall  be  a  posses- 
sion for  life." — Porter,  /. 
c-y  P-  55- 


"The  Jesuits  wished  the 
whole  boy,  not  his  mem- 
ory only,  to  be  affected  by 
the  master. '  '-Quick,  Edu- 
cational Reformers,  p.  507. 


"Their  instruction  was 
always  given  gratuitous- 
ly."—Quick,  ib.j  p.  38. 

The  Jesuit  schools  "were 
gratuitous.  The  instruc- 
tion was  imparted  freely, 
not  only  to  pupils  of  the 
Romish  faith,  but  to  all 
who  chose  to  attend  upon 
it." — Porter,  1.  c.,  p.  29. 

"Finally  they  imparted 
their  instruction  gratui- 
tously. ' ' — Ranke,  History 
of  the  Popes,  vol.  I. 


"Faithful  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  Society  did 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


247 


the  influential  classes. " — 
Seeley,  History  of  Educa- 
tion, p.  185. 

"They  administer  only 
the  aristocratic  education 
of  the  ruling  classes, 
whom  they  hope  to  retain 
under  their  own  control. ' ' 
Compayre,  History  of  Ped- 
agogy, p.  143. 


not  estimate  a  man's  worth 
simply  according  to  his 
birth  and  outward  circum- 
stances. The  constitu- 
tions expressly  laid  down 
that  poverty  and  mean 
extraction  were  never  to 
be  any  hindrance  to  a  pu- 
pil's admission  ....  and 
Sacchini  says:  'Do  not  let 
any  favoring  of  nobility 
interfere  with  the  care  of 
meaner  pupils,  since  the 
birth  of  all  is  equal  in 
Adam,  and  the  inher- 
itance is  Christ. '  ' '  — 
Quick,  1.  c.,  p.  39. 

These  quotations  may  suffice  to  show  how  little  the 
adversaries  of  the  Jesuits  agree  in  their  estimations  of 
most  important  points  of  the  educational  system  of  the 
Society.  We  need  not  examine  all  charges  in  detail; 
we  can  leave  them  to  themselves,  reminding  the  reader 
of  a  passage  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  (14,  56): 
"Many  bore  false  witness  against  him,  and  their 
evidences  were  not  agreeing."  If  in  no  other  point, 
at  least  in  this  one,  the  Jesuits  resemble  him  whose 
name  they  bear,  and  whom  they  profess  and  endeavor 
to  follow. 

A  few  accusations,  however,  must  be  examined 
here  on  account  of  their  serious  character.  The  first 
is  that  the  Jesuits  did  not  care  for  the  instruction  of 
the  people,  because  they  thought  "the  ignorance  of 
the  people  the  best  safeguard  of  faith;"  that  they  "ad- 


248  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ministered  only  the  aristocratic  education  of  the  higher 
classes."1  This  is  utterly  false.  That  the  Jesuits 
could  not  devote  themselves  extensively  to  elementary 
education  has  been  accounted  for  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter.2 As  to  the  other  charge,  in  their  higher  schools 
there  were  always  many  poor  pupils;  it  is  frequently 
inculcated  in  the  documents  of  the  Society  to  treat  the 
poor  pupils  with  equal,  if  not  with  greater,  care  than 
the  rich.3  Father  Jouvancy  exhorts  the  teacher  "to 
exhibit  a  parent's  tender  care  particularly  towards 
needy  pupils."4  Further,  the  Society  had  special 
boarding  schools  for  poor  scholars;  domus  pauperum, 
or  conv  ictus  pauperum,  were  attached  to  nearly  all 
larger  colleges ;  in  Germany  and  Austria  at  Wiirz- 
burg,  Dillingen,  Augsburg,  Munich,  Prague,  Olmiitz, 
Briinn  etc.5  The  Jesuits  not  unfrequently  begged 
money  for  poor  scholars.  Peter  Canisius  in  one  year 
supported  two  hundred  poor  boys.  Moreover,  they 
had  vSpecial  libraries  to  supply  books  for  poor  students 
and  fed  poor  day  scholars.  In  several  places  the 
Jesuits  were  at  times  severely  censured  "for  favoring 
too  much  poor  students  and  the  sons  of  the  lower 
classes,"  as  was  said  in  Graz  in  1767.  In  1762  they 
were  ordered  by  the  Bavarian  government  to  admit  in 
future  fewer  poor  scholars.6  The  judgment  of  Quick 

1  Compayre,    History   of  Pedagogy -,    p.    143;    similarly 
Seeley,  History  of  Education  >  p.  185. 

2  Chapter  III,  pp.  104—106. 

3  Ratio  Studiorum,  Reg.  Prof.  Sup.  Fac.,  u.  20;  Reg. 
com.  mag.  class,  inf.  50. — Monumenta  Paedagogica,  p.  814 
foil. 

4  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  Ill,  art.  1,  n.  2. 

5  Duhr,  Studienordnungy   pp.  46 — 53. 

6  Documents  iii  Duhr,    Jesuitenfabeln,  2d  edition,  pp. 
86—93. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  249 

echoes  the  real  spirit  of  the  Society  on  this  point: 
"Faithful  to  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  the  Society 
did  not  estimate  a  man's  worth  simply  according  to 
his  birth  and  outward  circumstances.  The  constitu- 
tions expressly  laid  down  that  poverty  and  mean  ex- 
traction were  never  to  be  any  hindrance  to  a  pupil's 
admission  .  .  .  and  Sacchini  says:  'Do  not  let  any 
favoring  of  nobility  interfere  with  the  care  of  meaner 
pupils,  since  the  birth  of  all  is  equal  in  Adam  and  the 
inheritance  is  Christ'."  l 

It  is  said  that  the  Jesuits  "  labored  for  those  pupils 
who  could  pay  them  for  their  efforts. " 2  In  the  Con- 
stitutions of  the  Society  it  is  laid  down  as  a  strict  rule 
that  "no  one  is  to  accept  anything  which  might  be 
considered  as  a -compensation  for  any  ministry,"  [edu- 
cation included].3  How  this  principle  was  applied  to 
the  colleges  can  be  best  seen  from  the  following  regula- 
tions made  by  Father  Nadal :  "The  Rector  cannot 
receive  anything  either  for  any  instruction,  or  degree, 
or  matriculation;  nothing  as  a  remuneration  for  the 
teacher,  nor  any  present  from  a  scholar.  In  short, 
nothing  can  be  received,  not  even  as  alms  or  on  any 
other  grounds.  Should  the  Rector  hear  that  any  one 
else  has  accepted  anything,  be  he  a  teacher  or  an  offi- 
cial of  the  school,  he  must  see  that  it  is  returned  to 
the  person  who  gave  it;  and  he  must  severely  punish 
the  person  who  received  it. "  4 

L    Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  p.  39. 

!    Compayrc,  Hist  of  Fed.,  p.  258. 

5  Summary  of  the  Constit.  27,  where  allusion  is  made  to 
the  words  of  our  lyord:  "Freely  3-011  have  received,  freely 
give." 

4    Monumenta  Paedagogica,    p.  102. 


250  JESUIT  KDUCATION. 

In  fact,  this  regulation  caused  the  Society  many 
serious  difficulties.  The  rival  faculties  of  other  schools, 
who  received  payments  from  the  pupils,  saw  in  the 
gratuitousness  of  instruction  in  the  Jesuit  schools  a 
great  danger.  By  various  machinations  the  Jesuits 
were  forced  in  some  cities  to  accept  fees  from  the 
students.1  It  is  well  known  that  at  present  most 
Jesuit  schools  are  compelled  by  sheer  necessity  to 
accept  a  tuition  fee,  because  few  of  their  colleges  are 
endowed.  But  it  was  different  in  former  centuries, 
when  the  liberality  of  princes,  ecclesiastics  and  cities 
furnished  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  colleges.  Nearly  all  historians  testify  that  the 
Jesuits  imparted  all  instructions  gratuitously;  some 
even  blame  the  Jesuits  for  thus  using  an  unfair  means 
of  competing  with  other  schools. 

The  accusation  of  estranging  the  children  from 
their  families  is  as  ungrounded  as  the  former  charges.2 
It  is  also  refuted  by  the  fact  that  the  Jesuits  opened 
boarding  schools  unwillingly  and  only  where  it  was 
absolutely  necessary.3  They  everywhere  preferred 
day  schools,  because  they  appreciated  the  importance 
which  the  home  influence  —  provided  it  was  good  and 
religious  —  has  on  the  training  of  the  character.  Aside 

1  Duhr,  Studienordnung,  p.  47. — Hallam,/,.^/"^1.,  I,  256. 

2  Compayre,  Hist,  of  Fed.  y  p.  146.     "The  ideal  of  the 
perfect  scholar  is  to  forget  his  parents.''     This  is  a  calumny; 
and  the  example  which  M.  Compayre  adduces  of  a  pupil  of 
the  Jesuits  who  showed  an  eccentric  behavior  towards  his 
mother,  and  the  words  of  the  biographer,  do  not  express  the 
principles  and  practices  of  the  Jesuit  schools. 

3  Thus,  for  instance,  of  the  83  colleges  which  the  Society 
had  in  Germany  in  1710,  only  12  admitted  boarders.    Du  L,ac, 
Jesuites,  pp.  297—298,  and  390. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  251 

from  cases  in  which  a  boy  has  to  go  to  a  boarding 
school  for  want  of  a  higher  school  near  his  home, 
especially  in  the  country,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
other  cases  are  rather  numerous  in  which  it  is  better 
for  young  people  to  receive  their  education  away  from 
home.  In  not  a  few  families  the  father  has  no  time  to 
look  after  the  education  of  his  sons;  mothers  are 
frequently  too  indulgent  to  control  self-willed  lads.  In 
such  cases  it  is  a  blessing  for  a  boy  to  be  entrusted  to 
a  good  boarding  school  in  which  not  only  the  intellec- 
tual, but,  above  all,  the  moral  and  religious  training 
receive  due  attention.  Besides,  much  may  be  said  of 
the  advantages  derived  from  the  discipline  and  sub- 
ordination insisted  on  in  good  boarding  schools.1 

Of  all  the  charges  and  imputations  heaped  upon 
the  Jesuit  schools,  the  most  formidable  is  that  they 
seek  only  the  interest  of  the  Order,  cripple  the  intellect 
of  their  pupils,  and  teach  them  a  corrupt  morality. 
I  am  almost  ashamed  to  refute  such  charges ;  for  any 
such  attempt  seems  to  be  an  insult  not  only  to  the 
Society,  but  to  the  Catholic  Church  herself,  who  has 
so  often  praised  and  recommended  the  educational 
labors  of  the  Society.  However,  as  such  charges  are 
made  in  historical  and  educational  works  used  exten- 
sively in  this  country,  I  think  it  necessary  to  say  a 
few  words  about  them.  Hallam  says :  "The  Jesuits 
have  the  credit  of  first  rendering  public  a  scheme  of 
false  morals,  which  has  been  denominated  from  them 
and  enhanced  the  obloquy  that  overwhelmed  their 
order."2  And  von  Raumer,  in  his  History  of  Peda- 

1  See  Mr.  Whitton's  discussion :  The  Private  School  in 
American  Life  (a  reply  to  Mr.  Edward's  strictures).  Educat. 
Rev.,  May  1902. 

!  Literature  of  Europe,  etc.  (ed.  1842,  New  York),  vol- 
ume II,  p.  121. 


252  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

gogy,  frightens  the  readers  with  a  dreadful  picture  of 
the  "dismal  and  perfidious  colleges  of  the  Jesuits,  of 
these  men  of  wickedness,  with  their  dark,  treacherous 
tendencies,  so  fatal  to  the  souls  of  the  young. "  Dr. 
Huber,  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the  Society,  remarks 
on  this  charge  :  l<Raumer  condemns  Jesuit  education 
from  the  specifically  'confessional'  \_i.  e.  Protestant] 
point  of  view."  l  On  the  other  hand,  the  accusations 
which  Dr.  Huber  himself  made  against  the  Society, 
are  not  more  justified,  and  they  have  been  discredited 
by  a  leading  Review  in  Germany:  "The  opinion  of 
some  'Old-Catholic'  scholars,  that  the  education  of  the 
Jesuits  is  a  sort  of  diabolical  system,  tending  to  enslave 
the  conscience  and  suppress  every  free  movement  of 
the  mind,  can  no  longer  be  maintained.  "2%f*=5 

Mr.  Painter's  charges  are  among  the  worst  and 
unfairest  that  have  ever  been  hurled  against  Jesuit 
education ;  summing  up  his  criticisms  on  the  Jesuit 
system,  he  says,  it  is  "based  not  upon  a  study  of  man, 
but  on  the  interests  of  the  order .  .  .  the  principle  of 
authority,  suppressing  all  freedom  and  independence 
of  thought,  prevailed  from  beginning  to  end.  Religious 
pride  and  intolerance  were  fostered.  While  our  baser 
feelings  were  highly  stimulated,  the  nobler  side  of  our 
nature  was  wholly  neglected.  L,ove  of  country,  fidel- 
ity to  friends,  nobleness  of  character,  enthusiasm  for 
beautiful  ideals  were  insidiously  suppressed. ' ' 3  These 

1  DerJesuiten-Orden,  p.  377. 

2  Jahresbericht  fur    klassische   Altertumswissenschaft, 
Berlin,  1891,  p.  45  (quoted  by  Pachtler,  /.  c.,  vol.  IV,  p.  VIII). 

2  History  of  Education,  p.  172.  —  Similar  opinions  were 
expressed  recently  by  Mr.  Frank  Hugh  O'Dounell,  in  his 
book,  The  Ruin  of  Education  in  Ireland,  L,ondon,  1902.  He 
would  advise  the  commission  on  Irish  University  Education 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  253 

terrible  charges  are  made,  but  not  proved.  We  can 
only  ask  with  astonishment :  How  can  a  critical 
scholar,  a  cultured  gentleman,  a  truth-loving  Christian 
act  in  such  manner?  Who  does  not  think  of  the 
striking  parallel  instance  in  ancient  history,  when  the 
great  teacher  of  Athens,  whose  life  work  it  was  to 
elevate  and  ennoble  the  youths  of  his  city,  was  ar- 
raigned before  a  court  for  corrupting  youth  ?  He  was 
condemned  and  had  to  drink  the  cup  of  hemlock. 
How  many  modern  writers  on  Jesuit  education  are 
faithful  imitators  of  the  unjust  accusers  of  Socrates 
and  the  unjust  judges  of  Athens?  They  cannot 
despatch  the  hated  Jesuits  out  of  the  world,  but  they 
poison  public  opinion  and  the  minds  of  non-Catholic 
teachers.  But  there  is  another  question  which  we 
cannot  suppress  here  :  How  is  it  possible  that  en- 
lightened American  educators  put  any  faith  in  such 
monstrous  imputations?  And  how  can  they  trust 
books  which  contain  such  frightful  misrepresentations 
and  calumnies?  Wise  people  should  suspect  such 
charges,  because  of  their  very  enormity ;  and  they 

to  "refuse  every  public  endowment  and  public  monopoly  to 
the  Order  of  St.  Ignatius.  Their  individual  virtues  and 
scholarship  do  not  diminish  the  formidable  hostility  of  their 
brotherhood  to  independence,  to  progress,  to  liberty,  to  tolera- 
tion and  concord  between  citizens  of  different  creeds.  They 
are  the  pretorians  of  religious  despotism.  .  .  .  Catholic  ruin 
and  Catholic  ignorance  have  attended  everywhere  the  Jesuit 
monopoly.  Where  the  Jesuit  plants,  the  crops  are  indiffer- 
ence, emasculation,  and  decay.  . . .  Their  system  is  ruin  to 
the  Catholic  religion.  They  belong  to  an  age  before  modern 
times.  .  .  .  They  can  stimulate  fanaticism.  They  cannot 
develop  reason.  They  supplant,  and  call  it  assistance  and 
direction.  They  suck  the  brain  of  the  lay-people,"  etc.  — 
Quoted  in  The  Monthy  September  1902,  pp.  253-254. 


254  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

should  naturally  think  that,  when  some  charges  are 
so  ridiculous,  others  may  turn  out  equally  groundless. 
Those  who  are  so  positive  in  asserting  that  the  aim 
of  Jesuit  education  was  4ithe  interest  of  the  Order," 
might  well  be  advised  to  ponder  over  a  page  or  two  of 
the  work  of  a  scholar  of  the  first  rank, — we  mean 
Professor  Paulsen  who  at  present  is  equalled  by  few 
as  a  writer  on  pedagogy,  and  who  has  studied  the 
Jesuit  system  more  carefully  than  any  of  those  writers 
who  have  the  hardihood  to  raise  such  charges.  In 
spite  of  his  opposition  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  Society,  this  writer  severely  censures  those  who 
represent  the  Society  as  a  body  of  egoists  and  ambitious 
schemers.  " It  would  be  a  gross  self-deception,"  he 
writes,  * 'to  imagine  that  the  members  of  the  Society 
were  attracted  to,  or  kept  in  the  Order  by  any  selfish 
motives  or  personal  gratifications.  He  who  should 
have  sought  a  life  of  ease  and  pleasure  in  this  Order, 
would  soon  have  been  disappointed.  What  was  put 
before  them  on  entering,  was  first  a  humble  novitiate, 
then  a  prolonged  course  of  rigorous  studies,  finally, 
the  toilsome  work  of  the  classroom,  or  the  self-sacrific- 
ing labors  of  preaching  or  giving  missions.  Suppose 
the  powerful  and  influential  position  of  the  Order 
whetted  the  ambition  of  some  individual ;  but  he  would 
soon  have  found  out  that,  for  every  one  without  ex- 
ception, not  commanding  but  life-long  obedience  was 
the  summary  of  the  Jesuit's  career.  He  had  to  be 
ready  to  accept  any  position  without  murmur,  and  give 
it  up  the  moment  the  Superior  should  command.  This 
law  of  absolute  obedience  was  enforced  in  the  case  of 
men  of  such  merit  and  consideration  as  Canisius,  the 
first  German  Provincial.  .  .  Besides,  the  Order  would 


OPPOSITION  TO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION.  255 

never  have  been  persecuted  and  prohibited,  had  it 
served  the  ease  of  its  members ;  associations  for  such 
purposes  have  never  been  considered  dangerous;  those 
societies  only  are  dangerous  that  try  to  realize  ideas. 
The  author  then  adds  :  "Why  do  I  insist  so  much  on 
this?  Because  it  disgusts  me  to  hear  again  and  again 
that  men  who,  with  the  sacrifice  of  all  personal  in- 
terests, live  for  an  idea,  are  accused  of  selfishness  and 
ambition,  and  that  by  dull  Philistines,  who  through- 
out their  lives  were  seeking  their  own  comfort  and 
pleasure,  or  by  ambitious  place-hunters  who  think  of 
nothing  else  but  how  to  please  those  in  power  and  to 
flatter  public  opinion. ' ' l  These  words  sound  severe ; 
but  have  the  men,  whom  they  are  meant  for,  not  pro- 
voked this  severity  by  unjust  and  venomous  ac- 
cusations ? 

Not  a  few  writers  call  the  Jesuit  schools  dangerous 
to  the  public  welfare ;  one  styles  the  whole  Order 
" international  and  anti-national."  2  By  the  way,  the 
same  slander  has  been  hurled  against  the  Catholic 
Church ;  moreover,  we  know  that  long  ago  a  great 
Teacher  arose  and  founded  a  society.  A  certain  class 
of  learned  men  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  did  not 
dare  to  come  forth  with  the  real  motive.  Then  they 
denounced  the  teacher  as  "anti-national":  "He  for- 
bids to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  ;  he  makes  himself  king 
and  opposes  Caesar."  And  the  judge  was  told  that 
'  'if  he  acquitted  that  man,  he  was  not  Caesar's  friend. ' ' 
The  disciples  of  this  Teacher  were  told  that  they 
would  ever  share  the  fate  of  their  Master,  and  more 
than  once  in  history  the  same  futile  accusations  were 

1  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  vol.  I,  pp.  410-411. 

2  Ziegler,  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik,  p.  119. 


256  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

made  against  those  who  professed  to  follow  the  great 
Master. 

Not  a  shadow  of  proof  has  ever  been  advanced  that 
the  Jesuits  in  their  principles  and  teaching  are  un- 
patriotic, but  more  than  one  testimony  has  been  given, 
proving  that  they  possess  true  patriotism  and  instil  it 
into  the  hearts  of  their  pupils,  and  that  Jesuit  students 
yield  to  none  in  ardent  and  self-sacrificing  love  of 
country.  Of  course,  there  is  no  lack  of  assertions  to 
the  contrary.  But  recently  Sir  Henry  Howorth  stated 
that  the  English  Jesuits  shared  the  anti-English  views 
of  their  brethren  on  the  continent,  and  he  entreated 
English  parents  to  keep  their  children  away  from 
Jesuit  schools  where  they  imbibed  hatred  against  their 
own  country.1  A  Roman  Catholic  layman  in  England 
wrote  to  the  L,ondon  Times,  December  4,  1901,  with 
reference  to  this  attack  on  the  Jesuits :  '  'The  moral 

1  The  case  of  Sir  Henry  Howorth  furnishes  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  "trustworthiness"  of  the  attacks  against  the 
Jesuits.  This  gentleman  asserted  {Tablet,  Nov.  23,  1901), 
that  he  had  often  read,  in  the  Civilta  Cattolica  and  in  two 
German  Jesuit  publications,  "abominable  slanders  of  England 
and  its  people."  Sir  Henry  was  challenged  repeatedly  to 
produce  one  passage  from  the  two  German  publications  con- 
taining a  slander  of  England.  One  of  these  periodicals,  the 
Stimmen  aus  Maria-Laach,  has  very  often  praised  England 
and  its  liberal  institutions ;  and  the  other  (the  Theologische 
Zeitschrift  of  Innsbruck)  is  a  purely  scientific  paper  which 
never  touches  political  questions.  After  many  evasions  Sir 
Henry  at  last  wrote  (  Tablet,  March  15,  1902),  that  he  had  read 
the  "abominable  slanders"  in  the  Berlin  Germania,  "which, 
as  he  was  informed,  was  largely  owned  and  written  by  the 
Jesuits."  But  the  Jesuits  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Ger- 
mania.  And  yet,  for  three  months  Sir  Henry  had  maintained 
that  he  had  read  with  his  own  eyes  the  slanders  in  the  two 
mentioned  Jesuit  publications! 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  257 

and  religious  teaching  of  the  Jesuits  is  the  same  in 
England  as  on  the  Continent,  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  their  political  opinions  or  their  estimate  of  public 
affairs  in  this  country  are  identical.  The  English 
Jesuit  is  a  loyal  subject  of  his  Majesty,  and  all  his 
sympathies  are  .with  his  own  country.  Sir  Henry 
Howorth  informs  English  fathers  and  mothers  that  it 
is  nearly  time  they  considered  how  much  longer  they 
are  going  to  permit  their  fresh  and  ingenuous  children 
to  imbibe  hatred  and  contempt  for  their  country  at 
Jesuit  establishments.  Here  I  can  speak  from  personal 
experience  of  the  hatred  and  contempt  for  their  country 
which  my  three  sons  imbibed  at  the  Jesuit  College  of 
Beaumont,  near  Windsor,  and  how  it  has  influenced 
their  after  lives.  The  principles  which  the  Jesuits 
inculcated  upon  them  may  be  summed  up  in  five 
words  —  'Fear  God  ;  honor  thy  king. '  The  result  in 
after  life  was  that  they  all  three  volunteered  to  fight 
for  England  and  her  Sovereign  in  her  hour  of  need. 
One  of  them  has  fallen  on  the  battlefield ;  the  other 
two  have  survived  to  serve  their  country,  and  our 
name  is  known  to-day  to  most  loyalists  in  South 
Africa."  In  fact,  more  than  one  hundred  students 
from  the  Jesuit  College  of  Stonyhurst  fought  in  the 
South  African  war ;  three  have  received  the  Vic- 
torian Cross,  and  many  of  them  have  lost  their  lives ; 
and  more  than  one  hundred  have  gone  from  the  College 
of  Beaumont.1  Another  utterance,  and  that  from  a  non- 
Catholic  Review,  deserves  to  be  quoted  in  this  con- 
nection. In  the  last  number  of  the  Westminster  Review, 
.Mr.  Reade,  speaking  of  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Parkin 
to  draw  up  the  scheme  for  the  Rhodes  Scholarships, 

1     The  Messenger,  New  York,  1902,  July,  p.  127. 
17 


258  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

adds:    "It  is  just  possible  that,   if  lie   will  pay  any 

attention  to  the  teachings  of  history,  he  may  find  food 

for  meditation  in  the  system  on  which  the  Propaganda 

Fide  and  the  English   College  at  St.    Omers  [Jesuit 

College]  were  recruited  during  their  best  years.     The 

latter   school    (now   Stony  hurst)    kept    the    English 

Catholics  loyal  English  Gentlemen  during  the  worst 

times  of  the  Penal  Laws.     Many  of  them  accompanied 

James  II.  into  his  exile  at  St.  Germain,  but  it  would 

be  hard  to  find  one  who  held  a  commission,  as  the 

Irish  and  Scotch  exiles  did,   in  the  French  service, 

when  France  was  at  war  with  his  own  country.     We 

had  no  Regiment  de  Howard  firing  on  the  English 

Guards  at  Fontenoy,  as  the  Regiment  de  Dillon  did, 

and  Wellington's  chief  secret  agent  in  Spain  was  a 

Stony  hurst  boy."1 

The  whole  history  of  the  Society  refutes  the  im- 
putation of  want  of  patriotism.  Is  it  not  significant 
that  the  two  shrewdest  monarchs  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia,  and  Cath- 
arine II.  of  Russia,  protected  the  Jesuits?  Would 
they  have  done  so  if  there  had  existed  even  the  slight- 
est doubt  about  their  patriotism?  And,  as  to  France, 
Dr.  Huber  admits  that  "the  greatest  generals,  as 
Conde,  Bouillon,  Rohan,  Luxembourg,  Montmorency, 
Villars,  and  Broglie,  have  come  from  the  schools  of 
Jesuits. ' ' 2  The  same  may  be  said  of  many  great  men 
in  Austria,  Bavaria,  and  other  countries  where  the 
Jesuits  conducted  schools.  Also  in  the  nineteenth 
century  their  patriotism  has  been  publicly  acknow- 
ledged. We  quote  the  words  addressed  to  the  Jesuits 


1  Westminster  Review,  October  1902,  p.  325. 

2  Der  Jesuiten-Orden,  p.  384. 


I 


OPPOSITION  TO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION.  259 

by  King  Leopold  I.  of  Belgium.  Visiting  their  col- 
lege at  Namur  he  praised  them  especially  for  giving 
the  youth  under  their  charge  a  truly  national  educa- 
tion. "I  am  much  pleased,"  he  said  to  the  Fathers, 
"to  be  among  you.  I  know  that  you  give  the  students 
a  wise  direction.  Youth  needs  sound  principles. 
There  is  nothing  more  important  in  our  days,  when 
men  endeavor  to  stir  up  the  passions.  It  is  of  the 
greatest  moment  strenuously  to  fight  against  the  spirit 
of  lawlessness  which  now  threatens  all  order  and  the 
very  existence  of  the  states.  What  pleases  me  most 
in  your  work  is  that  yon  impart  to  the  young  a  truly 
national  education.  If  you  continue  to  educate  them 
in  this  spirit,  they  will  become  the  support  and  the 
mainstay  of  the  country. ' ' 1 

When  in  1846  the  French  Minister  Thiers  publicly 
attacked  the  education  of  the  Jesuits  on  similar 
grounds,  six  hundred  former  pupils  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  then  held  high  positions  in  the  administration, 
in  literary  and  industrial  circles,  came  forth  with  the 
solemn  declaration  :  "Our  Jesuit  professors  taught  us, 
that  God  and  His  religion  have  to  enlighten  man's 
intellect  and  guide  his  conscience ;  that  all  men  are 
equal  before  God  and  before  the  law  which  is  an  ex- 
pression of  God's  will ;  that  the  public  powers  are  for 
the  nations,  not  the  nations  for  the  public  powers  ; 
that  every  one  has  the  sacred  duty  to  make  all  sacri- 
fices, even  that  of  property  and  life,  for  the  welfare  of 
the  country;  that  treason  and  tyranny  alike  are  sins 
against  God  and  crimes  against  society.  Would  that 
all  France  knew  that  this  calumniated  education  is 
solid  and  truly  Catholic,  and  that  we,  by  learning  to 

1    Ami  de  Vordre  de  Namur,  1843,  July  31. 


260  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

unite  our  Catholic  faith  with  patriotism,  have  become 
better  citizens,  and  more  genuine  friends  of  our  liber- 
ties.5>1  In  1879,  Ferry  introduced  new  laws  to  sup- 
press the  Jesuit  schools.  In  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes  (1880),  Albert  Duruy  asked  Ferry  whether 
the  Jesuit  pupils  had  less  bravely  fought  against  the 
Germans  in  the  war  of  1870,  or  whether  more  Jesuit 
pupils  had  taken  part  in  the  Commune ;  whether 
especially  the  ninety  pupils  of  the  one  Jesuit  school  in 
Rue  des  Posies,  Paris,  who  had  fallen  in  the  battles  of 
that  war,  had  been  bad  citizens,  devoid  of  patriotism?2 
The  same  question  may  be  asked  in  every  country 
where  Jesuits  are  engaged  in  educating  youth  :  Have 
Jesuit  pupils  ever  shown  less  patriotism,  less  heroism, 
less  self-sacrifice  for  their  country  than  pupils  of  sec- 
ular institutions?  Was  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton 
less  patriotic  than  the  men  who  were  educated  at 
Harvard  and  Yale  ?  Was  Bishop  John  Carroll  lacking 
in  patriotism?  And  yet,  John  Carroll  had  been  a 
Jesuit  himself,  and  both  had  been  educated  in  Jesuit 
Colleges  in  Europe.  And  we  may  safely  challenge 
any  one  to  prove  that  the  American  Jesuits  and  their 
pupils  are  less  patriotic,  less  attached  to  the  interests 
of  their  country,  and  less  solicitous  for  its  fair  name 
among  the  nations  than  the  teachers  and  pupils  of 
other  institutions.  And  we  should  like  to  know  the 
facts  on  which  the  American  writer  has  based  the 

1  Similar  protests  of  Jesuit   pupils   were   published  in 
1879,  when  Ferry  had  cast  suspicion  on  the  patriotism  of 
the  Jesuits.      See  De  Badts  de  Cugnac,  Le  patriotisme  des 
/^suites. 

2  Of  the  pupils  of  St.  Clement  (Metz)  31  died  on  the 
battlefield,  of  the  College  of  Saiute-Genevi&ve   78;    of  the 
College  of  Vannes  20,  etc. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  261 

terrible  indictment,  that  in  Jesuit  schools  "love  of 
country  was  insidiously  suppressed. ' ' l  However,  if 
such  a  calumny  must  deeply  wound  the  hearts  of  all 
American  Jesuits,  they  will  know,  too,  that  other 
Americans,  and  such  whose  words  count  a  thousand 
times  more  than  the  uncritical  assertions  of  certain 
writers,  have  thought  and  spoken  differently  on  the 
influence  of  Jesuit  education.  On  February  22,  1889, 
at  the  centennial  celebration  of  Georgetown  College, 
Mr.  Cleveland,  President  of  the  United  States,  said 
among  other  things  :  "Georgetown  College  should  be 
proud  of  the  impress  she  has  made  upon  the  citizen- 
ship of  our  country.  On  her  roll  of  graduates  are 
found  the  names  of  many  who  have  performed  public 
duty  better  for  her  teaching,  while  her  Alumni  have 
swollen  the  ranks  of  those  who,  in  private  stations, 
have  done  their  duty  as  American  citizens  intelligent- 
ly and  well.  I  cannot  express  my  friendship  for  your 
college  better  than  to  wish  for  her  in  the  future,  as  she 
has  had  in  the  past,  an  army  of  Alumni,  learned, 
patriotic,  and  useful,  cherishing  the  good  of  their 
country  as  an  object  of  loftiest  effort,  and  deeming 
their  contributions  to  good  citizenship  a  supremely 
worthy  use  of  the  education  they  have  acquired  within 
these  walls. ' ' 2 

If  the  old  saying  holds  :  '  *  Quails  rex,  talis  grex, J  ? 
and  vice  versa,  then  we  must  conclude  that  the  teachers 
themselves  cannot  be  devoid  of  patriotism.  Fortu- 
nately, we  are  not  confined  to  this  a  priori  argument. 
Numerous  instances  are  on  record  that  Jesuits,  espe- 
cially at  the  time  of  war,  sacrificed  themselves  in  the 

1  Painter,  History  of  Education,  p.  172. 

2  History  of  Georgetown  College,  p.  422. 


262  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

service  of  the  sick  and  wounded  and  on  the  battle- 
fields. Not  to  say  a  word  of  the  many  cases  recorded 
of  former  centuries,  we  mention  one  of  more  recent 
date.  In  the  Franco-German  war  of  1870-71,  the 
Maltese  Society  of  Rhineland  and  Westphalia  sent, 
besides  the  1567  Sisters,  342  male  religious  to  the 
service  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  Among  these  342 
were  159  Jesuits.  Of  the  81  volunteer  army  chaplains 
sent  by  the  same  organization,  33  were  Jesuits. l  No 
less  than  80  Jesuits  received  decorations,  and  two  of 
them  were  honored  with  the  "Iron  Cross,"  the  highest 
distinction  for  heroic  conduct  on  the  battlefield.  The 
patriotism  of  the  French  Jesuits  is  not  less  conspicuous. 
In  every  war  which  was  waged  by  France,  a  number 
of  Jesuits  accompanied  the  army  as  chaplains.  In 
1870-71  several  were  wounded  on  the  battlefield,  and 
one  died  at  L,aon. 

The  attitude  of  the  Society  towards  national  and 
political  questions  has  been  clearly  stated  by  Father 
Beckx,  General  of  the  Society  :  "The  public  and  the 
press  busy  themselves  much  about  the  Society's  atti- 
tude towards  the  various  forms  of  government.  .  .  . 
Now  the  Society,  as  a  religious  Order,  has  nothing  to 
do  with  any  political  party.  In  all  countries  and 
under  all  forms  of  government,  she  confines  herself  to 
the  exercise  of  her  ministry,  having  in  view  only  her 
end  —  the  greater  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
souls,  —  an  end  superior  to  the  interests  of  human 
politics.  Always  and  everywhere  the  religious  of  the 
Society  fulfils  loyally  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen  and 
a  faithful  subject  of  the  power  which  rules  his  country. 
Always  and  everywhere  she  tells  all  by  her  instructions 

1     Braunsberger,  /.  c.,  p.  37. 


UNIVERS 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  263 

and  her  conduct  :  '  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Caesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's'/'1 
In  recent  years  the  attacks  on  the  educational  sys- 
tem of  the  Jesuits  chiefly  insist  on  the  fact  that  it  is 
"antiquated  and  unable  to  cope  with  modern  con- 
ditions." We  quoted  the  words2  of  Mr.  Browning, 
that  "little  is  to  be  hoped  for  the  Jesuits  in  the  im- 
provement of  education  at  present,  whatever  may  have 
been  their  services  in  the  past.  '  '  A  similar  verdict  is 
passed  by  Buckle.  "The  Jesuits,  for  at  least  fifty 
years  after  their  institution,  rendered  immense  service 
to  civilization,  partly  by  organizing  a  system  of  educa- 
tion far  superior  to  any  yet  seen  in  Europe.  In  no 
university  could  there  be  found  a  scheme  of  instruction 
so  comprehensive  as  theirs,  and  certainly  nowhere  was 
there  displayed  such  skill  in  the  management  of  youth, 
or  such  insight  into  the  general  operations  of  the 
human  mind.  .  .  The  Society  was,  during  a  consider- 
able period,  the  steady  friend  of  science,  as  well  as  of 
literature,  and  allowed  its  members  a  freedom  and  a 
boldness  of  speculation  which  had  never  been  permitted 
by  any  monastic  order.  As,  however,  civilization  ad- 
vanced, the  Jesuits  began  to  lose  ground,  and  this  not 
so  much  from  their  own  decay  as  from  a  change  in  the 
spirit  of  those  who  surrounded  them.  An  institution 
admirably  adapted  to  an  early  form  of  society  was  ill 
suited  to  the  same  society  in  its  mature  state."3  We 
think  this  charge  has  been  sufficiently  refuted  by  what 
was  said  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

1  VUnivers,  Paris,  Jan.  20,  1879.     See  De  Badts  de  Cug- 
nac,  L  *  expulsion  des  fesuiies,  p.  51. 

2  Page  16.  ' 

History  of  Civilization  in   England,  vol.    I,    chapter 
XVI. 


264  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

How  is  this  hostility  to  the  Jesuits  to  be  ex- 
plained? It  is  not  so  difficult  to  find  some  reasons 
which  account  for  the  aversion  of  Protestants  to  this 
Order.  Time  and  again  they  have  been  told  that 
Ignatius  of  L,oyola  founded  this  Society  in  order  to 
crush  Protestantism.  Although  it  has  been  proved 
that  such  a  view  of  the  Society  is  entirely  contradicted 
by  the  Constitutions  and  the  history  of  the  Order,1 
most  non-Catholics  still  cling  to  their  old  prejudices 
and  traditional  views  of  the  Jesuits.  Even  now  many 
see  in  the  Society  the  "avowed  and  most  successful 
foe  of  Protestantism,  and  the  embodiment  of  all  they 
detest. ' ' 2  The  Jesuits  have  been  represented  to  them 
as  notoriously  dishonest  and  unscrupulous  men,  who 
teach  and  practise  the  most  pernicious  principles; 
they  have  been  denounced  as  plotters  against  the  lives 
of  Protestant  rulers,  Queen  Elizabeth,  James  L,  Wil- 
liam of  Orange,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  The  mention  of 
the  Gunpowder  plot,  and  the  Titus-Oates  conspiracy,3 
conjures  up  the  most  horrible  visions  of  those  black 
demons  who  dare  to  call  themselves  companions  of 
Jesus.  Then  it  has  been  said  that  the  Jesuits  were 
the  cause  of  the  Thirty  Year's  War,  of  the  French 
Revolution,  of  the  Franco-German  War  of  1870,  of  the 
Dreyfus  affair.4  All  such  and  similar  silly  slanders 

1  See  above  chapter  III,  pp.  77—78. 

2  Canon  L,ittledale  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  art. 
"Jesuits". 

3  "That  lie  about  the  Titus-Oates  Conspiracy,"  as  the 
Protestant  historian  Gardiner  says  (Hist,  of  En gland ',  vol.  II, 
pp.  483  and  615).    An  apostate  priest,  Chinicquy,  has  charged 
the  Jesuits  even  with  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln ! 

4  Quite  recently  the  suspicion  was  expressed  in  French 
anti-clerical  papers  that  the  Jesuits  were  the  cause  of  the 
coal  strikes.     Any  one  who  wishes  to  see  to  what  extreme  of 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  265 

have  gradually  formed  that  popular  idea  according  to 
which  the  Jesuit  is  the  embodiment  of  craft,  deceit, 
ambition,  and  all  sorts  of  wickedness.  "It  began  to 
be  rumored  up  and  down,"  complains  Bunyan,  "that 
I  was  a  witch,  a  Jesuit,  a  highwayman,  and  the  like. " 
Last  year  it  was  very  correctly  stated  by  Mr.  Andrew 
Lang,  the  celebrated  Scotch  scholar,  that  this  popular 
idea  and  the  Protestant  dislike  of  the  Jesuits  is  not 
based  on  historical  facts,  but  largely  on  works  of 
fiction.  There  is  a  certain  picturesqueness  about  the 
mythic  Jesuit  which  makes  him  highly  important  in 
works  of  fiction.  Accordingly,  a  number  of  writers 
have  introduced  him  with  great  effect,  as  Charles 
Kingsley,  Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward,  and  even  Thackeray. 
Mr.  Lang  himself  rises  above  that  vulgar  conception 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  he  freely  confesses :  "The  Jesuits 
are  clever,  educated  men  ;  on  the  whole  I  understand 
their  unpopularity,  but  with  all  their  faults  I  love 
them  still. ' ' l  And  the  words  of  another  Protestant 
deserve  to  be  meditated  on  by  all  fair-minded  Protes- 
tants:  "Why  should  a  devoted  Christian  find  a  diffi- 
culty in  seeing  good  in  the  Jesuits,  a  body  of  men 
whose  devotion  to  their  idea  of  Christian  duty  has 
never  been  surpassed?"  2 

But  some  Protestants  will  say  :  The  Jesuits  have 
always  been  the  most  strenuous  and  most  successful 
supporters  of  the  Catholic  Church;  hence  they  weaken 
the  Protestant  cause.  —  To  men  who  argue  thus  apply 

absurdity  the  calumniators  of  the  Society  have  gone,  may 
read  Janssen,  vol.  VII,  pp.  530 — 584.  —  Dublin  Review ',  vol. 
XU,  pp.  60—86  ("Curiosities  of  the  Auti-Jesuit  Crusade"); 
vol.  Iv,  pp.  329—340. 

1  The  Pilot,  Oct.  12,  1901. 

2  Quick,  Educ.  Ref.,  p.  54. 


266  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  words  of  the  great  Master;  " You  know  how  to 
discern  the  face  of  the  sky,  and  can  you  not  know  the 
signs  of  the  times?"1  Indeed,  the  signs  of  the  time 
point  to  dangers  quite  different  from  those  dreaded 
from  " Jesuitism".  The  dangers  of  our  age  arise  from 
infidelity,  immorality,  and  anarchy.  What  has  become 
of  the  belief  in  the  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity, 
in  the  Divinity  of  Christ?  That  there  are  still  millions 
of  real  Christians  in  the  world,  is  chiefly  due  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  to  what  they  call  the  stubborn  "con- 
servatism" of  the  Romish  Church.  And  the  Jesuits 
make  it  the  centre  of  their  educational  work  and  of  all 
their  labors,  to  strengthen  the  faith  in  the  Divinity  of 
Christ,  and  to  propagate  the  Kingdom  of  God.  They 
teach  the  lofty  morality,  the  generous  self-denial, 
which  was  preached  to  the  world  by  the  words  and 
example  of  Jesus.  They  inculcate  assiduously  the 
most  important  civic  virtue,  obedience  to  all  lawful 
authority.  Therefore,  all  those  who  still  believe  in 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  who  zealously  labor  for  the 
moral  betterment  of  their  fellow-men,  who  have  the 
true  interest  of  their  country  at  heart  —  all  those  men 
should  heartily  welcome  the  Jesuits  as  helpful  allies 
in  their  noble  enterprise.  There  is,  in  our  days, 
surely  no  reason  for  antipathy  against  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

However,  considering  the  force  of  long  cherished 
prejudices,  we  understand  the  dislike  and  the  dread  with 
which  less  enlightened  Protestants  view  Jesuit  schools. 
Their  feelings  spring  from  ignorance,  and  they  are  to 
be  pitied  rather  than  blamed.  And  every  Jesuit  will 
pray  with  Jesus:  "Father  forgive  them,  for  they  know 

1    Matth.  16,  3. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  267 

not  what  they  do. ' '  But  what  should  we  say  of  men 
who  lay  claim  to  critical  ^scholarship,  if  they,  instead 
of  examining  conscientiously  the  documents  and  the 
history  of  the  Order,  unscrupulously  copy  the  slanders 
of  virulent  partisan  writers,  as  is  done  by  so  many 
modern  historians  and  educationists?  Some  seem 
studiously  to  neglect  to  acquire  that  information  which 
is  necessary  and  easily  available,  in  order  to  under- 
stand this  system.  Of  others  one  has  reason  to  sus- 
pect that  they  write  against  their  better  knowledge, 
from  fanatical  hatred,  not  so  much  of  the  Society  as 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  But  then  let  them  at  least  be 
honest ;  let  them  say  that  they  are  fighting  against 
the  "Anti-Christ  in  Rome,"  against  the  "Scarlet 
Woman,"  as  their  leaders  were  pleased  to  express 
themselves;  let  them  confess  that  it  is  the  odium  Papae, 
the  old  "no-Popery"  arid  "Know-nothing"  feeling 
which  inspires  them.  Well  has  a  non-Catholic  peri- 
odical recently  observed:  "We  end  inevitably  by 
recognizing  that  all  the  reproaches  with  which  we 
may  feel  entitled  to  load  the  Jesuits,  in  the  name  of 
reason,  of  philosophy,  etc.,  etc.,  fall  equally  upon  all 
religious  orders,  and  upon  the  Church  herself,  of 
which  they  have  ever  been  the  most  brilliant  orna- 
ment. Why  then  address  these  reproaches  to  the 
Jesuits  only?"1 

History  has  proved  the  correctness  of  these  state- 
ments. In  the  eighteenth  century  the  Jesuit  colleges 
were  suppressed.  Not  long  after  the  monasteries  of 
other  orders  were  "secularized".  In  1872  the  Jesuits 
were  expelled  from  Germany;  two  or  three  years  after, 
the  other  religious  orders  had  to  leave  the  fatherland, 

1     The  Open  Court,  Chicago,  Jan.  1902,  p.  28. 


268  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  then  the  secular  priests  were  persecuted,  and 
bishops  imprisoned.  Since  1879  there  was  a  continued 
agitation  in  France  against  the  Jesuits  and  their 
schools.  This  campaign  has  now  issued  in  a  general 
war  against  all  teaching  congregations,  in  fact  against 
all  religious  orders. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  of  late  radical  papers  begin  to 
proclaim  the  real  intentions  of  the  persecutors  of  the 
religious  orders.  One  paper  wrote  recently:  "Now 
we  must  not  forget  the  Cur 6s  (Parish  priests);  after 
the  monks  let  us  attend  to  them."  Hostility  to 
the  Church,  nay,  to  all  religion,  is  at  the  bottom 
of  the  unjust  and  tyrannous  proceedings  against  the 
Jesuits  and  other  religious  orders  in  France.  For, 
whilst  to  the  ordinary  reader  of  newspapers  the  recent 
laws  "appear  to  be  a  mere  measure  of  self-defense 
forced  upon  the  Republican  Government  by  the  reputed 
political  intrigues  of  the  Clerical  party  in  France,  it  is 
in  reality  a  systematic  attempt  to  discredit  religion, 
and  to  remove  its  checking  influence  upon  the  atheistic 
movement  of  the  controlling  party. ' ' 1  That  influence 
was  chiefly  felt  to  come  from  the  religious  orders, 
particularly  from  the  teaching  congregations.  Hence 
they  must  go.  The  hypocritical  assertion  :  "We  com- 
bat Jesuitism,  not  the  Church,  not  religion,"  is  a  mere 
ruse  de  guerre,  a  stratagem,  used  to  deceive  more  fair- 
minded  Protestants,  and  short-sighted  or  lukewarm 
Catholics.  That  this  is  no  exaggerated  party  state- 
ment, is  evident  from  the  discussions  in  the  French 
Senate  during  the  last  three  years.  It  is  also  frankly 

1  American  Ecclesiastical  Review,  Sept.  1902,  p.  324.  — 
See  especially  the  Dublin  Review,  October  1902:  "The  Power 
behind  the  Freiich  Government,"  where  it  is  clearly  set  forth 
who  the  real  instigators  of  this  new  persecution  are. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JKSUIT  EDUCATION.  269 

admitted  by  the  more  candid  advocates  of  the  new 
persecution,  and  by  not  a  few  far-seeing  Protestants. 

Here,  however,  a  serious  objection  is  raised :  Have 
not  Catholics,  even  high  dignitaries  of  the  Church, 
opposed  the  Jesuits?  How  is  this?  ''Protestants  are 
not  ignorant  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  been  the 
object  of  suspicion  and  attack  from  influential  men  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  itself ;  that  no  worse  things  have 
been  said  of  it  by  Protestants  than  have  been  said  by 
Romanists  themselves ;  that  Romish  ecclesiastics  have 
in  all  generations  of  its  history,  directed  against  it 
their  open  attacks  and  their  secret  machinations  ;  that 
Romish  teachers  have  dreaded  it  as  a  rival  and  in- 
triguer." x  However,  such  Protestants  should  not  fail 
to  examine  who  these  "Romanists"  are,  and  especially 
from  what  motives  they  act  when  attacking  the  Jesuits. 
We  do  not  wish  to  say  more  on  this  subject,  but  quote 
only  the  words  of  a  distinguished  French  writer,  M. 
lyenormant,  who  said  :  "Outside  the  Catholic  Church 
opinions  regarding  the  Jesuits,  as  regarding  other  re- 
ligious orders,  are  free,  but  within  the  Catholic 
Church  the  war  against  the  Jesuits  is  the  most  mon- 
strous inconsistency. ' ' 2 

The  opposition  of  Catholic  schools  to  the  Society 
is  frequently  looked  upon  by  non-Catholics  as  the 
surest  proof  of  the  dangerous  character  of  Jesuit  edu- 
cation. They  point  to  the  hostility  of  the  Alma  Mater 
of  the  Society,  the  once  famous  University  of  Paris, 
to  the  Jesuits.  But  a  German  Protestant,  a  pro- 

1  Professor  Porter  of  Yale,  Educational  Systems  of  the 
Puritans  and  Jesuits  compared ',  p.  90. 

"Endedans  du  catholicisme ,  la  guerre  aux  Jesuites  est 
la  plus  monstrueuse des  inconsequences."  De  Badts  de  Cugnac, 
L*  expulsion  des  Jesuites^  p.  6. 


270  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

fessor  in  the  University  of  Strasburg,  not  in  the  least 
partial  to  the  Jesuits,  writes  on  this  subject:  "This 
hostility  evidently  arose  from  jealousy,  as  the  youths 
of  Paris  flocked  to  the  schools  of  these  dangerous  and 
dexterous  rivals,  while  the  lecture  rooms  of  the  Uni- 
versity were  empty."  l  The  same  opinion  is  held  by 
M.  Jourdain,  the  historian  of  the  University  of  Paris. 
He  describes  the  scientific  .stagnation  of  the  University 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  the  frightful  licen- 
tiousness of  the  students,  in  consequence  of  which 
parents  did  not  dare  to  send  their  sons  to  this  school, 
but  were  anxious  to  have  them  educated  by  the  Jesuits. 
The  University  combated  this  competition  not  so  much 
by  raising  the  intellectual  and  moral  standing  of  the 
University,  as  by  acts  of  Parliament,  expelling  the 
Jesuits  or  closing  their  colleges.  The  colleges  of  the 
University  were  on  the  point  of  being  deserted,  and 
this  time  the  danger  was  all  the  more  grievous,  as  'a 
part  of  the  Professors  could  attribute  to  themselves  the 
decadence.2  Still  the  members  of  the  University  never 
ceased  from  accusing  the  Jesuits  of  being  corrupters  of 
youth  and  disturbers  of  the  public  peace.  It  is  ad- 
mitted also  that  the  teaching  in  the  University  was 
most  defective.  But  they  reproached  the  Jesuits  for 
inefficiency  and  faulty  methods.  The  University, 
although  tainted  with  Jansenism,  charged  the  Jesuits 
with  spreading  doctrines  prejudicial  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  with  "rendering  faith  a  captive  to  vain  human 
reason  and  philosophy."  The  historian  here  justly 
exclaims:  "How  often,  in  later  days,  has  the  Society 

1  Ziegler,  Geschichte  der  Padagogik,  1895,  p.  121. 

2  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris  an  XVII. 
et  au  XVIII.  stecle.     Paris  1888,  vol.  I,  pp.  1—59. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  271 

reversely  been  accused  of  being  the  implacable  foe  of 
philosophy  and  reason  !"  1 

The  hostility  of  the  Paris  University  was,  therefore, 
merely  the  outcome  of  jealousy.  At  all  times  mono- 
polies were  jealous.  Richelieu  had  perceived,  that 
clearly.  Frequently  urged  to  expel  the  Jesuits  from 
Paris,  he  did  not  yield ;  on  the  contrary,  towards  the 
end  of  his  life  he  handed  over  to  the  Jesuits  the  Col- 
lege de  Marmoutiers.  "The  Universities/'  he  said, 
"complain  as  if  a  wrong  were  done  them,  that  the  in- 
struction of  youth*  is  not  left  to  them  exclusively.  But 
as  human  frailty  requires  a  counter-balance  to  every- 
thing, it  is  more  reasonable  that  the  Universities  and 
the  Jesuits  teach  as  rivals,  in  order  that  emulation 
may  stimulate  their  efforts,  and  that  learning  being 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  several  guardians,  may  be 
found  with  one,  if  the  others  should  have  lost  it."2 
In  another  passage  Jourdain  does  not  hesitate  to  state 
that  the  competition  of  the  Jesuits  soon  turned  into  a 
blessing  for  the  University  itself,  as  it  was  forced  to 
exercise  a  more  active  supervision  over  masters  and 
students,  which  was  beneficial  both  to  discipline  and 
instruction.3 

In  Germany  also  and  in  other  countries  the  Jesuits 
had  to  encounter  the  opposition  of  the  old  universities. 
The  reason  has  been  given  by  Professor  Paulsen: 
"The  old  corporations  at  Ingolstadt,  Vienna,  Prague, 
Freiburg,  Cologne,  resisted  with  might  and  main,  but 
it  was  all  in  vain;  the  Jesuits  were  victorious  every- 
where. The  old  corporations  who  were  in  possession 

1  Ibid.,  p.  282. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  272. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  II,  p.  299. 


272  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

of  the  universities  have  often  raised  the  charge  of 
"imperiousness"  of  "desire  of  ruling1'  against  the 
Jesuits,  and  many  historians  of  these  institutions  have 
passionately  repeated  this  charge,  certainly  not  with- 
out g9od  cause.  But  it  must  be  added  that  it  was  not 
the  desire  of  ruling  that  springs  from  arrogance  and 
rests  on  external  force  or  empty  titles,  but  the  desire 
that  arises  from  real  power  which  is  eager  to  work, 
because  it  can  work  and  must  work. ' ' 1 

Another  reason  for  the  cold  treatment  of  the  Society 
by  Catholics  must  be  sought  in  unfair  generalizations 
of  individual  cases.  The  Jesuits  had  always  the 
privilege  —  or  the  misfortune  —  of  being  the  subject 
of  the  constant  pre-occupation  of  the  public  mind. 
They  are  watched  closely,  and  they  are,  too  often, 
watched  with  a  magnifying  glass.  But  if  faults  are 
discovered  in  an  individual,  is  it  fair  to  censure  the 
whole  body?  Well  has  an  English  writer  said:  "The 
most  splendid  and  perfect  institution,  if  it  grow,  and 
occupy  a  large  space,  if  many  join  it,  will  have  among 
its  members  imprudent  and  therefore  dangerous  men 
—  men  who  offer  so  fair  a  pretext  to  the  malevolent 
for  attacking  it,  that  the  combined  learning  and 
prudence  of  many  years  will  hardly  make  good  the 
damage  done.  The  mass  of  men  do  not  make  fine 
distinctions;  to  distinguish  with  them,  means  casuistry, 
and  casuistry  they  consider  to  be  next  door  to  system- 
atized imposture.  Point  out  some  telling  scandals 
against  some  member  of  a  large  organized  body;  be 
they  only  three  or  four,  or  true  or  false,  repeat  them 
often  enough  —  and  the  public  will  pass  the  verdict  of 

1     Paulsen,  /.  c.y  p.  281  (vol.  I,  p.  407). 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  273 

guilty  upon  the  whole,  and  condemn  both  the  system 
and  him  who  sins  against  it. "  l 

Sometimes,  indeed,  it  may  be  that  individual 
Jesuits  have,  by  their  unfaithfulness  to  the  principles 
of  their  order,  deserved  the  ill-feeling  with  which  they 
have  been  regarded.  But  in  a  large  majority  of  cases, 
it  is  due  either  to  prejudice  or  ignorance  on  the  part  of 
their  adversaries,  or  else  to  an  imperfect  grasp  of  the 
Jesuit  system,  especially  to  the  false  impression  that 
the  Jesuits  exercise  an  influence  which  interferes  with 
the  work  of  others  and  that  they  are  a  rival  power  in 
the  government  of  the  Church.2 

The  utter  falsity ,  of  the  impression  referred  to 
has  been  proved  more  than  once.  In  1880  all  the 
French  Bishops,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  ad- 
dressed letters  of  protest  to  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public against  the  decree  of  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits. 
These  letters  form  a  splendid  testimony,  not  only  to 
the  educational  success  of  the  Jesuits,  but  also  to 
their  loyalty  to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.3  The 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Paris  uttered  these  striking 
words  about  the  Jesuits,  so  many  of  whom  labored  in  his 
diocese:  "Among  the  religious  institutes,  there  is  one 
which  has  been  more  before  the  world  than  the  others; 
which  has  done  splendid  service  in  education,  which 
has  shed  lustre  on  literature,  which  has  formed  savants 
of  the  first  rank  in  every  branch  of  science.  .  .  Marked 

1  R.  B.  Vaughan,  Life  of  St.  Thomas,  vol.  I,  p.  629. 

2  See  Father  Clarke,  S.  J.,  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
August  1896. 

3  See  Dublin  Review,  1880,  July,  pp.  155—183.  —  Again 
in  October  1902,  of  79  French  Bishops  72  (in  a  joint  petition 
to  the   Senate)   declared  their  solidarity  with  the  religious 
orders. 

18 


274  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

out  by  its  importance  and  .success  as  an  object  of  the 
hatred  of  the  enemies  of  religion,  the  Society  of  Jesus 
has  always  confounded  calumny  by  the  splendor  of  its 
virtues,  its  intellectual  power  and  its  work.  .  .  .  To 
zeal,  these  generous  priests  have  always  united 
prudence.  In  the  midst  of  the  dissensions  which 
trouble  the  country,  just  as  the  whole  of  the  clergy 
have  kept  themselves  rigorously  within  the  limits  of 
their  spiritual  ministry,  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  been 
scrupulously  exact  in  avoiding  all  interfering  with 
politics.  Those  who  deny  this,  make  assertions  with- 
out proof.  A  Bishop  like  myself  who  has  under  his 
jurisdiction  the  chief  Jesuit  establishments  in  France 
is  in  a  position  to  know  the  truth  in  a  matter  like 
this." 

Cardinal  Bonnechose  testified  as  follows:  "The 
Jesuits  devote  themselves  to  the  laborious  and  often 
thankless  task  of  education.  They  open  colleges;  ex- 
perience justifies  their  efforts;  families  entrust  their 
children  to  them  with  the  utmost  confidence;  year  by 
year,  public  opinion  and  the  government  itself,  testify 
to  their  success;  year  by  year,  they  send  forth  into 
every  career  young  men  who  have  been  taught  to 
respect  authority,  who  are  penetrated  with  the  idea  of 
duty;  who  are  fitted  to  become  brave  soldiers,  con- 
scientious functionaries,  and  honorable  and  useful 
citizens,  and  who  are,  every  one,  devoted  to  their  coun- 
try and  ready  to  die  for  France. ' '  —  The  Archbishop 
of  Cambrai,  Cardinal  Regnier,  spoke  in  the  same 
strain:  "Here  I  must  make  particular  mention  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  who  are  to  be  treated  with  special 
severity.  On  my  conscience  and  in  the  name  of  truth, 
President  of  the  French  Republic,  I  bear  witness  that 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  275 

these  religious  men,  who  have  so  long  been  abused, 
spit  upon,  and  calumniated  by  the  anti-Christian 
press  with  a  malice  which  no  authority  has  ever 
attempted  to  restrain  —  who  are  devoted  day  by  day  to 
the  hatred  and  violence  of  the  mob,  as  though  they 
were  an  association  of  malefactors  —  that  these  religi- 
ous are  esteemed  and  venerated  in  the  highest  degree 
by  the  clergy  and  by  every  class  of  the  faithful,  and 
that  they  are  in  every  way  most  worthy  of  it.  Their 
conduct  is  exeniplary;  their  teaching  can  only  be 
blamed  by  ignorance  and  bad  faith.  Many  of  them 
belong  to  the  most  distinguished  families  of  the  coun- 
try. The  house  of  superior  education  which  they 
carry  on  with  such  brilliant  success  at  lyille,  was  en- 
trusted to  them  —  I  may  almost  say,  forced  on  them  — 
by  fathers  of  families  who  had  themselves  been 
brought  up  by  them,  and  who  were  determined  to 
provide  for  their  children  an  education  which  their 
own  experience  taught  them  to  value.  I  fulfil  a  duty 
of  conscience  and  of  honor  in  addressing  to  you  these 
simple  and  respectful  observations. ' ' 

The  testimony  of  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons  will  be 
of  special  interest.  Cardinal  Caverot  writes:  "It  is 
the  privilege  of  the  children  of  St.  Ignatius  to  be  in 
the  front  of  every  battle.  I  know  how  hatred,  and 
still  more  how  ignorance  and  prejudice,  have  accum- 
ulated calumnies  against  the  Society.  But  I  owe  it  to 
the  truth  to  declare  here,  that  in  the  course  of  a 
ministry  of  well-nigh  fifty  years  —  twenty  as  priest, 
thirty  as  bishop  —  I  have  been  able  to  satisfy  myself, 
and  I  know  that  these  worthy  and  zealous  servants  of 
God  have  well  deserved  the  distinction  given  to  the 
Society  by  the  Church,  when  she  proclaimed  it,  in  the 


276  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

Council  of  Trent  j  a  'Pious  Institute,  approved  by  the 
Holy  See.'  I  admire  these  men  in  their  work  of 
teaching,  and  in  the  labors  of  their  apostleship. 
Nowhere  have  I  met  ivith  priests  more  obedient  to  ecclesi- 
astical authority,  more  careful  of  the  laws  of  the  country, 
more  aloof  from  political  conflict;  and  I  affirm  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  if  these  decrees  which  strike 
at  them  have  not  made  any  charge  whatever  against 
their  life  and  teaching,  it  is  because  not  a  charge 
could  be  made  which  would  survive  an  hour's  discus- 
sion. ' ' 

There  m  no  room  for  further  extracts  from  these 
letters.  The  Dublin  Review  remarks  that  these  mani- 
festoes of  the  French  hierarchy  are  precious  documents 
for  the  religious  orders;  "but  the  Jesuits,  in  particular, 
will  be  able,  from  these  utterances,  to  collect  a  body  of 
episcopal  testimony  to  their  ability,  devotedness,  and 
deference  towards  the  Bishops  such  as  perhaps  they 
have  never  before  received  from  a  great  National 
Church  during  the  whole  course  of  their  existence. ' ' l 

In  modern  times  it  has  sometimes  been  said  that 
religious  orders,  in  general,  were  admirably  equipped 
for  former  ages,  but  time  has  progressed  so  fast  that 
the  orders  were  left  behind  and  are  now  "out  of  date." 
One  Philip  Limerick,  who,  as  he  affirms,  was  at  one 
time  himself  in  a  monastery,  states  this  view  plainly 
in  the  Contemporary  Review  (April  1897).  This  writer 
admits  that  the  Monks  were  the  benefactors  of  man- 
kind, by  teaching  the  arts  of  civilization  to  the  rude 
tribes  of  the  North,  and  that  the  monastic  institutions 
were  the  homes,  for  a  long  time  even  the  only  ones,  of 
learning.  But,  he  says,  uomnia  tempus  habent,  and 

i    L.  c.,p.  175. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  277 

monks  are  now  rarely  met  with,  and  of  the  later 
orders,  the  Regular  Clerks,  only  one  has  left  a  deep 
impression  on  the  Latin  Church  and  obtained  a  place 
in  history  —  the  Society  of  Jesus.  This  Society  owes 
its  still  vigorous  life  to  its  wider  scope  and  more  effici- 
ent administration. ' '  Although  this  writer  assigns  an 
exceptional  position  to  the  Society,  others  include  also 
this  Order  in  the  general  doom.  "We  can  do  without 
the  Jesuits,"  was  a  saying  of  Dr.  Del-linger,  and  his 
opinion  is  shared  by  some  so-called  Liberal  Catholics. 
That  the  present  Pope  Leo  XIII.  has  other  senti- 
ments about  religious  orders  in  general  is  evident 
from  his  numerous  letters.  In  his  letter  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  December  23,  1900,  he  enumerates  all 
the  benefits  religion  and  society  receive  from  their 
hands.  He  says  that  "the  religious  are  the  necessary 
auxiliaries  of  the  bishops  and  the  secular  clergy. " 
"In  the  past  their  doctors  shed  renown  on  the  univer- 
sities by  the  depth  and  breadth  of  their  learning,  and 
their  houses  became  the  refuge  of  divine  and  human 
knowledge,  and  in  the  shipwreck  of  civilization  saved 
from  certain  destruction  the  masterpieces  of  ancient 
wisdom.  Nor  is  their  activity,  their  zeal,  their  love  of 
their  fellovj-men,  diminished  in  our  own  day.  Some, 
devoted  to  teaching,  instruct  the  young  in  secular  knowl- 
edge and  the  principles  of  religious  virtue  and  duty,  on 
which  public  peace  and  the  welfare  of  states  absolutely 
depend.  Others  are  seen  settling  amongst  savage 
tribes  in  order  to  civilize  them.  Nor  is  it  an  uncom- 
mon thing  for  them  to  make  important  contributions  to 
science  by  the  help  they  give  to  the  researches  which 
are  being  made  in  such  different  domains  as  the  study 
of  the  differences  of  race  and  tongue,  of  history,  the 


278  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

nature  and  products  of  the  soil,  and  other  questions.1 
Of  course  we  are  not  unaware  that  there  are  people 
who  go  about  declaring  that  the  religious  congrega- 
tions encroach  upon  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishops 
and  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the  secular  clergy. 
This  assertion  cannot  be  sustained  if  one  cares  to  con- 
sult the  wise  laws  published  on  this  point  by  the 
Church,  and  which  we  have  recently  re-enacted/' 2 

On  more  than  one  occasion  I^eo  XIII.  gave  expres- 
sion to  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  holds  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  Jesuits,  from  whom  he  himself  had 
received  his  early  training.  In  the  year  1886  he 
solemnly  confirmed  once  more  the  Institute  of  the 
Society  and  its  ecclesiastical  privileges,  exhorting  the 
sons  of  Ignatius  courageously  to  continue  their  work 
in  the  midst  of  all  persecutions.3 

Before  closing  this  chapter  we  may  mention  one 
explanation  for  the  widespread  animosity  against  the 
Society  at  which  some  may  be  inclined  to  smile.  It 
is  recorded  that  the  founder  of  the  Society,  St.  Ignatius 
of  Loyola,  used  to  beg  of  God  continually  that  his 
sons  might  always  be  the  object  of  the  world's  hatred 
and  enmity.  He  knew  from  the  words  of  Our  Divine 
Master:  "If  the  world  hate  you,  know  that  it  hated 
me  before  you,"  and  from  the  history  of  the  Church 
that  this  persecution  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  has  always 

1  On  the   services   rendered  by   Catholic  missionaries, 
mostly  religious,  to  the  knowledge  of  languages,  especially 
to  Comparative  Philology,  see  Max  Miiller's  Lectures  on  the 
Science  of  Language,   vol.   I,    and   Father  Dahlmann:   Die 
Sprachkunde  und  die  Missionen,  (Herder,  1891). 

2  Translation  from  The  Messenger,  New  York,  February 
1901. 

3  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  581. 


OPPOSITION  TO  JESUIT  EDUCATION.  279 

been  an  essential  condition  for  every  victory  won  for 
the  sacred  cause  of  Christianity.  No  doubt,  this 
prayer  of  St.  Ignatius  has  been  heard.  Whether  it  be 
the  Courtiers  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  the  Reformers  in 
Germany,  the  infidel  Philosophers  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  or  the  Atheists  of  our  own  days,  the  Com- 
munists of  Paris,  or  the  Revolutionary  party  in  Italy, 
the  Bonzes  in  Japan,  or  the  fanatical  followers  of 
Mahomet,  all  who  hated  the  name  of  Catholic  concen- 
trated their  deadliest  hatred  on  the  unfortunate  Jesuits. 
And  what  was  more  painful  to  them,  even  within  the 
pale  of  the  Catholic  Church,  they  have  sometimes  met 
with  misunderstanding  and  opposition.  The  Jansen- 
ists  in  France  were  their  bitter  enemies.  The  Liberal 
Catholics  invariably  stood  aloof  from  them.  At  times 
even  Bishops  and  Archbishops  treated  them  coldly. 
Still,  these  persecutions  were  not  without  some  good 
results.  They  kept  the  sons  of  Ignatius  ever  on  the 
alert;  and  for  this  reason,  the  prayer  of  St.  Ignatius 
manifests  a  wonderful  insight  into  human  affairs. 
Constant  attacks  prevent  a  body  of  men  from  stagna- 
tion and  security. 

"And  you  all  know  security 
Is  mortal's  chiefest  enemy."1 

1    Macbeth  3,  5. 


PART   SECOND. 

The   Principles   of   the   Ratio    Studiorum.  —  Its 

Theory  and  Practice  Viewed  in  the  Light 

of  Modern  Educational  Problems. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Adaptability   of    the    Ratio    Studiorum.  —  Prudent 
Conservatism. 

In  the  "Introductory  Chapter"  we  quoted  this 
remark  of  a  biographer  of  St.  Ignatius:  "The  Ratio 
Studiorum  is  a  plan  of  studies  which  admits  of  every 
legitimate  progress  and  perfection,  and  what  Ignatius 
said  of  the  Society  in  general  may  be  applied  to  its 
system  of  studies  in  particular,  namely  that  it  ought 
to  suit  itself  to  the  times  and  comply  with  them,  and 
not  make  the  times  suit  themselves  to  it. "  1  We  assert, 
then,  that  this  is  the  first  principle  of  the  Jesuit 
system :  that  it  should  adapt  itself  to  the  different 
times  and  countries.  We  do  not  treat  here  of  single 
colleges;  it  is  possible  that  some  have  not  adapted 
themselves  sufficiently.  The  question  to  be  discussed 
here  is  a  general  one:  namely  about  the  system  as 
such. 

That  the  Jesuit  system  has  not  suited  itself  to  the 
times  is  the  criticism  of  some.  Others  go  even  further, 
maintaining  that  it  cannot  be  suited  to  the  times,  or 
only  with  great  difficulty,  as  it  is  altogether  "anti- 

J     Genelli,  Life  of  St.  Ignatius,  part  II,  ch.  VII. 

(280) 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        281 

quated. "  Here  we  may  be  allowed  to  ask  whether 
men  who  make  such  assertions  are  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  Jesuit  education.  Some  of  them 
seem  to  have  seen  Jesuit  colleges  only  from  the  out- 
side ;  but  an  educational  system  cannot  be  fairly 
judged  unless  one  has  watched  its  practical  working. 
It  is  very  easy  to  make  a  caricature  of  a  system  which 
one  does  not  know. 

But  let  us,  for  fairness  sake,  assume  that  the 
opponents  of  the  Jesuit  system  take  the  trouble  of 
reading  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society  and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  even  then  they  may  be  led  into  serious 
mistakes,  unless  they  pay  attention  to  a  few  regula-  ' 
tions  which  are  usually  overlooked.  To  say:  the 
Jesuits  teach  only  what  is  mentioned  in  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  and  neglect  what  is  not  put  down  there,  is 
altogether  false.  The  Constitutions  and  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  leave  great  liberty  in  the  matter  of  changes 
and  adaptations.  In  his  Constitutions  Ignatius  him- 
self says:  "Let  public  schools  be  opened  wherever  it 
may  conveniently  be  done.  In  the  more  important 
studies,  they  may  be  opened  with  reference  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  places  where  our  colleges  exist.  And 
because  in  particular  subjects,  there  must  needs  be  much 
variety  j  according  to  the  difference  of  places  and  per- 
sons, we  shall  not  here  insist  on  them  severally;  but 
this  may  be  declared  that  rules  should  be  established 
in  every  college  which  shall  embrace  all  necessary 
points. ' ' l 

Conformably  to  this  fundamental  law  of  St.  Igna- 
tius, the  Ratio  Studiorum  emphasizes  the  lawfulness, 

1     Part  IV,  ch.  VII.     The  translation  is  that  of  the  Prot- 
estant translator  (L,ondon,  1838). 


282  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

nay,  the  necessity  of  changes  and  adaptations.  In  the 
first  part  of  the  Ratio,  in  the  Rules  for  the  Provincial 
Superior,  it  is  expressed  not  less  than  six  times.  Thus 
one  rule  reads:  "As  according  to  the  difference  of 
country,  time  and  persons,  there  may  be  a  variety  in 
the  order  of  studies,  in  the  hours  assigned  to  them,  in 
repetitions,  disputations  and  other  school  exercised  as 
well  as  in  the  vacations,  if  he  [the  Provincial]  should 
think  anything  more  conducive  to  the  greater  ad- 
vancement of  learning  in  his  province,  he  shall  inform 
the  General  in  order  that,  after  all,  special  regulations 
be  made  for  all  the  particular  needs;  these  regulations 
should,  however,  agree  as  closely  as  possible  with  our 
general  plan  of  studies. ' ' 2  This  is  evidently  a  most 
important  regulation,  proving  that  the  arrangement  of 
studies  is  practically  committed  to  the  Provincial  Su- 
perior. A  distinguished  commentator  on  the  Institute 
of  the  Society,  in  a  recent  work,  could  write:  "We  do 
not  deny  that  in  their  methods  of  teaching,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Order  differ  in  many  points  from  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  as  we  have  explained  it.  It  cannot  be 
otherwise,  since  in  the  various  provinces,  owing  to 
different  conditions,  it  is  necessary  to  make  different 
regulations,  without  interfering  with  the  general  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  Institute  rests.  We  have  already 
mentioned  that  St.  Ignatius  not  only  permitted  but 
ordered  various  regulations  to  be  made,  according  to 
the  various  conditions  of  time  and  place.  This  is 
much  more  necessary  in  our  days,  when  so  many  edu- 
cational schemes,  good  ones  and  bad  ones,  have  been 
advanced.  The  Society,  far  from  considering  her  own 
system  absolutely  perfect  and  unalterable,  on  the  con- 
1  Rules  of  the  Provincial,  39. 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  TH£  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        283 

trary  grants  that  many  things  are  merely  temporary  and 
can  be  improved.' J  1 

This  is  what  the  Society  itself  thinks  of  its  educa- 
tional system.  .  If  the  system  has  not  been  changed 
for  three  hundred  years  —  it  existed  three  hundred 
years,  not,  as  President  Eliot  thinks,  four  hundred,  — 
the*  Society  has  proved  false  to  the  principles  of  its 
founder.  That  the  Society  has  changed  its  teaching 
in  the  course  of  time,  is  proved  by  its  history.  We 
referred  in  a  previous  chapter  to  the  Revision  of  1832 
and  later  additions,  and  showed  that  the  revision  of 
1832  was  not  considered  final.  But  this  general  change 
is  slight  as  compared  with  the  many  important 
changes,  which  were  made  in  the  different  provinces. 
The  four  volumes  of  Father  Pachtler's  work  exhibit 
a  considerable  number  of  adaptations  made  in  the 
provinces  of  Germany  in  the  old  Society.  As  an  in- 
stance of  such  a  change  we  must  consider  the  system- 
atic teaching  of  geography  and  history,  which  was 
gradually  introduced  in  the  iyth  century,  although  it 
was  not  expressly  prescribed  by  the  Ratio. 2  Greater 
in  number  and  more  far-reaching  were  the  changes 
made  in  the  new  Society. 

In  this  regard  the  demands  and  suggestions  for  a 
revision  of  the  old  Ratio  Studiorum,  sent  to  Rome 
before  1832,  are  highly  instructive.  There  we  read: 
"As  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  is  no  longer  suited  for 
our  age,  it  should  not  be  introduced  into  our  schools. . . 
Natural  sciences  were  formerly  taught  as  part  of 
philosophy;  but  in  order  to  conform  with  the  exigen- 
cies of  our  times,  all  these  sciences  must  be  taught 

1  Oswald,  S.  J.,  Commentarius ,  110.  204,  nota. 

2  See  above  ch.  IV,  pp.  125—129. 


284  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

separately.  .  .  Ethics  are  not  to  be  treated  according 
to  the  commentaries  on  Aristotle,  but  according  to  the 
best  modern  works.  .  .  The  elements  of  Euclid  do 
not  suffice  now-a-days,  but  in  our  age  we  must  teach 
algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry,  conic  sections,  dif- 
ferential and  integral  calculus,  and  the  scientific 
applications  of  all  parts  of  mathematics.  .  .  In  the 
lower  classes  special  care  must  now  be  had  of  the 
mother-tongue ;  the  pupils  must  be  diligently  exercised 
in  the  use  of  their  native  language,  and  must  be 
acquainted  with  the  best  authors  in  the  vernacular.  .  . 
In  our  times  it  will  not  suffice  to  explain  the  principles 
of  rhetoric  according  to  the  precepts  of  Aristotle  and 
Cicero,  but  according  to  modern  authors ;  besides, 
now-a-days  it  is  necessary  to  give  instruction  in 
aesthetics.  .  .  In  the  lower  classes  we  must  now  teach 
history,  geography,  as  well  as  mathematics;  in  the 
higher  classes  also  archaeology. ' ' l  These  demands  were 
attended  to  in  the  Revised  Ratio.  This  may  suffice  to 
show  that  the  Jesuits  do  not  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
needs  and  exigencies  of  the  times.  In  1830  the  Gen- 
neral  of  the  Society  wrote  to  the  superiors  of  the  dif- 
ferent provinces  that  they  should  not  fail  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  commendable  practices  of  other  schools  in 
their  countries;  they  should  also  be  careful  to  mention, 
whether  certain  things  were  to  be  introduced  in  their 
respective  places,  even  if  they  were  contrary  to  the 
common  customs  of  the  schools  of  the  Order.2 

The  Society  has  never  denied  that  vast  progress 
has  been  made  in  all  branches  of  learning,  especially 
in  natural  sciences,  history,  and  philology.  It  does 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  392—444. 

2  /£.,  p.  407. 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        285 

not  wish  a  return  of  the  conditions  of  former  centuries, 
but  gladly  makes  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  by 
modern  science,  in  order  to  qualify  the  pupils  for  the 
necessities  of  our  times.  If  one  compares  the  curricula 
of  Jesuit  schools  in  America,  England,  France,  Bel- 
gium, Austria,  and  other  countries,  he  will  find  the 
greatest  variety.  He  will  discover  that  it  is  a  ground- 
less charge  against  the  Jesuits,  that  they  cling  with 
blind  stubbornness  to  every  detail  of  their  Ratio.  No, 
as  far  as  it  is  compatible  with  thorough  education, 
they  have  adapted  their  teaching  to  the  customs  of  the 
respective  countries  in  which  they  are  laboring.  As 
was  said  before,  these  changes  and  modifications  are 
not  added  to  the  printed  Ratio  as  amendments  or  by- 
laws ;  this  is  not  necessary,  since,  as  was  stated  above, 
the  Ratio  itself  admits  the  necessity  of  having  "  dif- 
ferent regulations  as  regards  studies,  according  to  the 
different  conditions  of  time  and  place. "  The  changes 
and  modifications  are  laid  down  in  the  customs  and 
directives  for  the  different  Provinces  or  Missions.  Now, 
the  writers  outside  of  the  Society  are,  as  a  rule,  utterly 
ignorant  of  the  particular  regulations  of  the  various 
provinces;  hence,  they  are  easily  led  into  the  same 
mistake  which  a  foreigner,  coming  to  the  State  of 
New  York,  would  make  if  he  imagined  there  existed 
no  law  except  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
As  the  General,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  Provincial 
Superiors,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Order,  are  em- 
powered to  make  all  changes  which  they  deem  neces- 
sary, it  cannot  be  said  that  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  so 
difficult  to  reform. 

But  it  may  be  objected  here,  that  what  remains  is 
no  longer  the  Ratio  Studiorum.     This  is  not  correct. 


286  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

AH  the  essential  points  remain ;  it  is  only  important 
to  know  what  is  essential.  The  assailants  of  the  Ratio 
usually  suppose  that  it  is  the  preponderance  given  to 
certain  subjects,  especially  the  classics,  or  the  order 
and  succession  in  which  the  different  subjects  are 
taught.  Others  again  seem  to  find  the  essentials  of 
the  Ratio  in  minor  details,  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  the  subjects  are  taught.  We  admit  that  it 
would  be  altogether  impracticable  to  carry  out  the 
prescriptions  of  the  Ratio  in  their  entirety.  Thus  the 
L,atin  idiom  can  no  longer  be  insisted  on  as  the  lan- 
guage of  conversational  intercourse  among  the  students, 
as  was  done  in  the  iyth  century,  nor  is  it  possible  to 
use  it  as  the  medium  of  instruction  in  all  the  lectures. 
Neither  is  it  possible  to  devote  the  same  number  of 
hours  to  the  classics,  as  much  time  and  labor  is  requi- 
site for  the  study  of  modern  literature,  mathematics, 
and  the  sciences.  We  admit  further  that  some 
details  of  the  Ratio,  for  instance  the  system  of  decurio- 
nes  (boy  supervisors  and  assistants  of  the  teacher), 
certain  solemnities  at  the  distribution  of  prizes,  the 
use  of  the  grammar  of  Alvarez,  etc.,  are  really  anti- 
quated. But  they  are  exactly  those  points  which  have 
been  abandoned  long  ago,  and  which  have  never  been 
regarded  as  essential. 

The  present  General  of  the  Society,  Father  Martin, 
who,  if  any  one,  is  unquestionably  warranted  to  speak 
authoritatively  on  this  subject,  declared  on  January  i, 
1893:  "There  are  men  who  think  that  the  Ratio 
Studioruni  was  good  formerly,  but  that  it  is  no  longer 
so  in  our  times.  He  who  maintains  this  position  does 
not  understand  the  Ratio  Studioruni ;  he  looks  only  at 
the  mattery  not  at  the  form  [the  spirit]  of  the  system. .  . 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        287 

But  the  matter  is  not  the  essential  feature  of  this 
system."1  Neither  is.  the  order,  the  sequence,  in 
which  the  different  branches  are  taught.  The  subject 
matter  as  well  as  the  order  is  in  many  countries  pre- 
scribed by^fhe  governments.  Although  this  prescribed 
order  may  not  always  be  the  best,  still  it  can  be 
adopted,  as  the  order  is  not  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  system  of  the  Society. 

Now,  may  it  not  be  said  that  modern  conditions 
merely  forced  the  Society  and  its  General  to  this  broad 
interpretation  of  the  Ratio,  to  make,  as  President  Eliot 
would  express  it,  some  further  '  'trifling  concessions"  ? 
By  no  means.  The  utterances  of  Father  Martin  are 
neither  novel  nor  alien  to  the  Ratio  or  the  Constitu- 
tions of  the  Society,  as  is  shown  by  a  comparison  with 
the  quotations  we  gave  before  from  these  two  docu- 
ments. One  point  is  made  clear,  viz.,  that  the  Ratio 
admits  of  a  very  broad  interpretation,  and  leaves  es- 
pecially ample  room  for  innovations  as  regards  various 
branches  of  study.  If  it  is  useful  and  advisable  to 
teach  a  new  branch  :  economics,  civics,  local  history, 
biology,  or  Spanish,  or  any  other  subject,  there  is  no 
difficulty  on  the  part  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  If  the 
Jesuits  exclude  certain  branches  from  their  curriculum, 
it  is  not  because  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Ratio, 
but  because  they  consider  these  branches  of  less  edu- 
cational value ;  if  they  uphold  certain  other  branches, 
as  the  classics,  it  is  because  they  expect  the  most  from 
them  for  the  training  of  their  pupils ;  if  they  defend 
the  successive  teaching  of  different  branches  in  pre- 
ference to  the  simultaneous  treatment  of  a  multitude 

1    The   Woodstock  Letters,  vol.  XXII  (1893),  p.  106.  - 
Quoted  also  by  Chossat,  Les  Jesuites  &  Avignon,  p.  258,  n.  3. 


288  jKsuii;  EDUCATION. 


of  unconnected  subjects,  they  act  according  to  ap- 
proved pedagogical  principles;  if  they  do  not  admit 
the  extravagant  electivism  of  some  modern  school- 
reformers,  it  is  because  they  consider  it  injurious  to 
solid  education,  not  because  it  is  opposed  to  their  sys- 
tem. We  venture  to  say,  they  could  adopt  electivism 
to  a  very  great  extent,  without  entirely  abandoning 
the  fundamental  principles  of  their  Ratio.  We  shall 
speak  of  these  principles  in  the  next  chapter.  Suffice 
it  to  quote  here  the  words  of  a  writer  in  a  first  class 
literary  review  in  Europe  on  the  Ratio  :  "The  regula- 
tions and  principles  of  that  system  of  studies,  viewed 
in  the  light  of  modern  exigencies,  need  not  shun  any 
comparison,  and  the  pedagogical  wisdom  contained 
therein  is  in  no  way  antiquated.  '  '  1 

Although  the  teaching  of  the  Jesuits  has  not  re- 
mained unchanged  for  centuries,  it  is  true,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  Society  was  never  rash  in  adopting 
new  methods.  The  Jesuits  did  not  experiment  with 
every  new-fangled  theory,  with  every  pedagogical 
"fad",  no  matter  how  loudly  praised  and  held  up  as 
the  system  of  our  age.  Herein  they  acted  wisely. 
For,  first  of  all,  there  may  be  several  systems,  equally 
good,  and-  the  Jesuits  possessed  a  system  of  their  own, 
which  had  been  approved  by  a  remarkable  success  in 
former  centuries.  And  that  in  recent  times  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Society  has  not  been  unsuccessful,  is  suffici- 
ently proved  by  what  we  said  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

Whilst  the  efficiency  of  her  old  and  approved  sys- 
tem justifies  the  conservative  spirit  of  the  Society  in 
educational  matters,  another  striking  proof  of  its  wis- 
dom in  this  respect  is  furnished  by  the  fate  of  the 

1     Oesterreichisches  Litteraturblatt,  Vienna,  1897,  No.  4. 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        289 

modern  school  reforms  themselves.  No  sooner  has 
one  startled  the  world,  than  it  is  followed  and  over- 
thrown by  a  newer,  later,  more  modern  system.  To 
each  of  them  may  be  applied  the  words  of  St.  Peter  to 
Saphira,  which  a  German  philosopher  used  with  ref- 
erence to  modern  philosophical  theories  :  "Behold  the 
feet  of  them  who  have  buried  thy  husband  are  at  the 
door,  and  they  shall  carry  thee  out."1  We  have  an 
instance  in  Germany.  In  1892,  a  new  plan  of  studies 
was  introduced  in  Prussia,  and  at  about  the  same  time 
in  the  other  states  of  Germany.2  The  classical  studies 
lost  a  great  number  of  hours.  Although  this  plan  was 
introduced  at  the  urgent  wish  of  the  young  Emperor 
and  through  his  ' 'energetic  personal  interference,"3 
it  met  with  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  majority 
of  teachers.  No  party  was  satisfied.  The  strict  ad- 
vocates of  the  ancient  classics  complained  of  the 
reduction  in  the  classical  instruction.  The  friends  of 
the  scientific  schools  were  not  satisfied  with  the  con- 
cessions made  them.4  On  all  sides  the  cry  was  heard: 
"Reform  the  Reform  of  1892." 

In  1895  the  Ministry  of  Instruction  allowed  the 
directors  of  the  gymnasia  to  add,  in  the  three  higher 
classes,  one  hour  a  week,  which  should  be  devoted  to 

1  Acts  5,  9. 

2  A  very  good  account  of  this  reform  is  given  by  Dr. 
Russell,  German  Higher  Schools,  ch.  XX.     See  also  Educa- 
tional Review,  September,  1900.     The  best  and  most  compre- 
hensive sketch  of  the  '  'Berlin  Conference  of  1890'*  is  contained 
in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1889 — 90, 
vol.  I,  pp.  343—398,  by  Charles  Herbert  Thurston  of  Cornell 
University. 

3  Report  of  the  Comm.  of  Ed.,  1.  c.,  p.  363. 

4  Rep.  of  Com.  of  Ed.,  1.  c.,  p.  398. 

19 


290  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  old  grammatical  and  stylistic  exercises.1  Still 
more  complaints  were  heard  in  the  following  years. 
In  1899  even  Professor  Virchow,  one  of  the  most 
determined  opponents  of  the  gymnasium  in  its  old 
form,  admitted  that  the  graduates  after  the  reform 
manifested  a  notable  decline  in  grammatical  and  logical 
training.  It  was  found  necessary  to  convoke  a  new 
conference,  which  met  in  Berlin,  June  1900.  Here 
some  of  the  ablest  schoolmen  were  outspoken  in 
demanding  a  partial  return  to  the  system  existing 
before  1892.  Dr.  Matthias,  the  referee  of  the  Ministry, 
stated  that  all  official  reports  and  the  most  experienced 
men  of  the  Kingdom  complained  about  the  serious 
decline  of  L,atin  scholarship  which  had  manifested 
itself  after  1892.  The  cause  of  this  decline  he  suspected 
to  be  the  excessive  use  of  inductive  methods,  so  much 
encouraged  by  the  reform.  Kfforts  were  to  be  made 
to  check  this  decline;  above  all  it  was  necessary  to 
secure  again  greater  grammatical  knowledge,  and  it 
seemed  better  to  introduce  again  some  of  the  old 
methods,  especially  frequent  translations  from  the  Ger- 
man into  L,atin  and  speaking  L,atin.2  He  thus  recom- 
mended what  the  most  zealous  of  the  reformers 
had  ridiculed  as  antiquated.  Professor  Kiibler  and 
Professor  Harnack  were  not  less  outspoken  on  this 
point.  The  latter  said  that  writing  Latin  was  to  be 
insisted  on,  and  that  the  discarding  of  this  exercise  in 
1892  was  a  mistake.3  The  result  of  these  discussions 
was  a  strengthening  of  the  Latin  course,  by  adding 

1  Messer,  Die  Reformbewegungy  p.  155. 

2  Verhandlungen  uber  die  Fragen  des  hohern  Unterrichts, 
Berlin,  June  1900,  p.  128. 

3  /£.,  p.  294. 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE)  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        29 1 

one  hour  weekly  from  the  third  class  on,  therefore  an 
increase  of  seven  hours  L,atin  weekly  in  the  whole 
gymnasium.  The  new  "School  Order"  of  1901  de- 
manded most  emphatically  a  thorough  grammatical 
training.  Books  for  translating  from  German  into 
I,atin,  which  in  1892  had  been  done  away  with  almost 
entirely,  were  again  introduced  into  all  the  classes.1 
By  these  regulations,  the  Prussian  Ministry,  taught  by 
the  experience  of  nine  years,  and  convinced  by  the 
arguments  of  the  foremost  schoolmen  of  the  Kingdom, 
acknowledged  that  the  "reform"  of  1892,  in  several  im- 
portant points  had  been  a  mistake,  a  deterioration.  It 
was  thus  proved  that  some  of  the  much  decried  old 
methods  were,  after  all,  the  best  and  safest. 

Within  the  last  decade  a  novel  experiment  has  been 
made  in  Germany,  that  of  the  "Pioneer  Schools'"  or 
"Reform  Gymnasia."  These  schools  are  to  be  the 
common  foundation  of  all  higher  schools  :  Gymnasium 
(classical),  Real- Gymnasium  (L,atin  scientific),  Real- 
Schule  (scientific).  During  the  first  three  years  one 
modern  language  is  taught,  French  in  the  schools  of 
the  Frankfort-type,  English  in  those  of  the  Altona-type. 
In  the  fourth  year  the  schools  separate.  Latin  is 
begun  in  the  Gymnasium  and  Real- Gymnasium,  English 
in  the  Real-Schule.  In  the  sixth  year  the  Gymnasium 
introduces  Greek,  the  Real  -  Gymnasium  English.2 
Whilst  a  great  number  of  educators  vigorously  oppose 
this  system  —  some  say  "the  experiment  should  never 
have  been  allowed"  — the  most  advanced  "reformers 
of  the  universe"  expect  great  things  of  it ;  to  them  it 

1  Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben  fur  die  hohern  Schulen 
in  Preussen,  1901.     pp.     28—30.  —  Messer,  /.  c.y  p.  157. 

2  See  Russell,  German  Higher  Schools,  ch.  XX.  —  Vier- 
eck,  in  Educational  Review,  Sept.  1900. 


292  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

is  '4the  school  of  the  future. "  Be  it  remarked,  as  a 
curious  fact,  that  this  modern  system  is  not  new  at 
all,  but  a  mere  revival  of  the  system  of  Comenius 
(1592 — 1671). *  The  future  has  to  show  whether  this 
system  is  practicable  or  not.  So  far  its  value  has  not 
been  sufficiently  demonstrated. 

Our  own  country  furnishes  significant  phenomena, 
—  similar  to  those  witnessed  in  Germany.  People 
had  been  told  that  our  educational  system  was  well 
nigh  perfect.  American  children,  at  the  age  of  ten  or 
twelve  years,  now  learn  things  of  which  in  former 
generations  men  of  twenty-five  knew  little  or  nothing, 
be  it  physiology,  biology,  hygiene,  civics  or  what  not. 
And  all  this  they  learn  without  exertion  and  coercion  ; 
for,  agreeably  to  the  free  spirit  of  the  country,  the 
young  citizens  are  to  be  given,  as  early  as  possible, 
full  liberty  of  choosing  those  branches  which  suit  their 
good  pleasure,  or,  as  our  moderns  express  it,  their 
natural  abilities.  Indeed,  what  system  can  be  more 
perfect  ?  Now  on  a  .sudden  people  are  rudely  awakened 
from  their  pleasant  dreams  by  most  distinguished  men, 
who  tell  the  people  that  there  is  something  wrong, 
some  say  "radically  wrong, "  in  our  educational 
system.  Not  a  few  of  these  critics  begin  to  point  out 
that  one  of  the  fundamental  defects  of  American 
vSchools  is  the  very  thing  which  was  vaunted  as  our 
greatest  educational  achievement:  the  elective  system 
in  secondary  schools.  Others  discover  the  greatest 
danger  in  the  hasty  experimenting,  in  the  rash  accep- 

1  "No  less  a  person  than  Comenius,  the  father  of  our  new 
philosophical  education,  outlines  in  his  Great  Didactic  a 
system  which  in  its  principal  features  agrees  with  that  now 
in  vogue  in  our  pioneer  schools."  Educational  Review, 
Sept.  1900,  p.  173. 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE)  RATIO  STUDIORUM.        293 

tation  of  novelties  so  common  in  our  modern  schools.1 
14 There  is  too  much  agitation,  unceasing  change,  and 
consequent  uncertainty  in  the  operations  of  our  Amer- 
ican schools.  There  is  too  much  individualism  in  lay- 
ing plans  and  arranging  courses  and  in  methods  of 
teaching,  too  burning  a  desire  to  say  something  new 
or  to  do  something  novel  for  the  sake  of  prominence  in 
the  teaching  body.  Of  course  it  will  be  said  that  this 
has  brought  us  where  we  are.  But  we  might  be  quite 
as  well  off  if  we  were  not  exactly  where  we  are."  2 

Within  the  last  month  (October  1902)  severe  stric- 
tures were  made  on  some  of  the  very  latest  educational 
"improvements,"  and  that  not  by  Jesuits,  nor  by  pro- 
fessional philologians,  who  stubbornly  defend  their 
long-cherished  classics,  but  by  such  as  may  eminently 
be  called  men  of  affairs.  The  Electrical  World  spoke 
of  President  Eliot's  efforts  to  lift  the  American  college 
to  the  plane  of  a  foreign  university.  "The  chief  effect 
has  been  to  push  the  college  into  the  existing  dilemma. 
It  is  crowded  from  above  by  the  necessity  for  more 
time  in  the  professional  schools,  and  for  a  nether  mill- 
stone it  finds  the  secondary  school  that  its  own  hands 
have  fashioned.  And  truth  to  tell,  the  college  is  losing 
heart.  It  has  virtually  surrendered  its  last  year  to 
professional  electives,  but  the  sacrifice  has  not  served  its 
purpose.  The  latest  suggestion  from  no  less  eminent 
a  source  than  that  of  Professor  Butler,  of  Columbia,  is 

1 .  "In  America  we  are  unfortunately  too  prone  to  view 
with  favor  any  new  idea,  educational  or  other,  and  to  embark 
precipitately  in  experiments  which  involve  serious  con- 
sequences." Professor  Bennett  of  Cornell  University,  in  The 
Teaching  of  Latin  in  the  Secondary  School,  p.  80. 

2  President  Draper  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  Edu- 
tional  Review,  May  1902,  p.  457. 


294  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

for  a  two-year  college  course,  leading  to  post-graduate 
training,  and  a  parallel  four-year  course  for  such  as 
may  desire  it.  We  hope  this  experiment  may  not  be 
tried,  for  its  success  would  mean  the  disintegration  of 
the  college  as  it  has  been,  and  the  introduction  of 
nothing  to  take  its  place.  ...  If  the  American  col- 
lege is  still  to  remain  a  part  of  our  educational  system, 
it  must  stand  by  its  old  ideals  and  neither  retreat  nor  com- 
promise. ...  If  the  college  would  do  the  greatest  pos- 
sible service  to  education  it  should  sharpen  its  ax,  not 
to  decapitate  itself  according  to  the  present  program, 
but  to  hew  out  of  its  curriculum  the  courses  that 
demand  a  diffuse  preparation  in  the  secondary  schools/ 
and  out  of  these  latter  the  time-wasting  requirements. ' ' 1 
The  utterances  of  another  man  deserve  to  be  quoted  in 
this  connection,  I  mean  Mr.  Cleveland,  the  former 
President  of  the  United  States.  On  October  25,  1902, 
at  the  inauguration  of  the  new  President  of  Princeton 
University,  he  earnestly  warned  against  '  'false  educa- 
tional notions,"  "a  new-born  impatience  which  de- 
mands a  swifter  educational  current  and  is  content 
with  a  shallower  depth."  Mr.  Cleveland  declared 
"Princeton's  conservatism  is  one  of  her  chief  virtues,  and 
that  we  of  Princeton  are  still  willing  to  declare  our 
belief  that  we  are  better  able  to  determine  than  those 
coming  to  us  for  education,  what  is  their  most  advan- 
tageous course  of  instruction,  and  surely  every  phase 
of  our  history  justifies  this  belief."2  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  point  out  what '  'false  educational  notions' ' 
are  hinted  at.  Prom  these  criticisms  of  the  latest 

1  Electrical  World,  October  25,  1902. 

2  From  the  Evening  Bulletin,  Philadelphia,  October  25, 
1902.     (Italics  are  ours,  also  those  of    preceding  quotation.) 


ADAPTABILITY  OF  THK  RATIO  STUDIORUM.       295 

"school  reforms0  we  are  justified  in  drawing  the  fol- 
lowing inferences: 

First,  not  all  school  changes  and  innovations  are 
real  improvements.  Secondly,  a  great  deal  of  sound 
pedagogy  was  contained  in  the  old  systems,  which 
was  rashly  and  wantonly  abandoned  by  many  modern 
school  reformers.  Thirdly,  the  Jesuits  acted  prudently 
in  not  accepting  in  their  totality  these  new  methods 
which,  to  a  great  extent,  are  but  haphazard  experi- 
ments. 

The  Society  believes  in  a  sound  evolution  in  educa- 
tional matters,  but  is  averse  to  a  precipitous  revolution. 
Those  who  recently  have  called  the  educational  system 
of  the  Society  antiquated  or  absurd,  because  it  repudi- 
ates their  own  pet  theories,  have  acted  very  rashly, 
all  the  more  so  that  these  very  theories  have  been 
condemned  by  many  competent  judges.  The  man 
who  lives  in  a  glass  house  should  not  throw  stones  at 
other  people. 

In  every  important  movement,  the  ardent  desire  of 
progress  must  be  tempered  and  controlled  by  a  goodly 
amount  of  conservatism.  Otherwise  the  rerum  novarum 
studiosi  will  sacrifice  much  of  what  is  of  fundamental 
importance.  At  the  time  of  the  famous  Gaume  con- 
troversy in  France  about  the  classical  studies,  an 
English  Catholic  writer  characterized  the  attitude  of 
the  Jesuits  in  the  following  words:  '  'Though  essen- 
tially conservative,  that  remarkable  Society  has  never 
held  itself  so  far  behind  the  current  of  Catholic 
thought,  as  to  lose  its  influence  over  it;  nor  has  it 
placed  itself  so  much  in  the  advance,  as  to  become  an 
object  of  general  observation.  It  has,  as  a  rule, 
firmly,  cautiously,  and  with  a  practical  wisdom,  mani- 


296  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

fested  to  so  great  an  extent  by  no  other  order  in  the 
Church,  kept  pace  with  the  general  movement,  and 
influenced  its  direction;  and  when  it  has  not  been 
able,  through  the  unmanageable  nature  of  the  elements 
with  which  it  has  had  to  do,  to  lead,  it  has  had  the 
sagacity  to  bide  its  time  and  follow.  It  is  this  instinct 
which,  though  it  may  to  'carnal  men'  savor  of  human 
prudence,  to  men  who  see  things  through  a  spiritual 
eye,  manifests  the  workings  of  a  governing  Providence 
through  one  of  the  most  able  human  instruments 
which  has  ever  undertaken  God's  work  upon  the 
earth."1 

The  extent  and  limit  of  the  Society's  progressive- 
ness  and  conservatism  in  educational  matters,  has 
been  clearly  enunciated  by  Father  Roothaan,  General 
of  the  Society,  in  1832:  "The  adaptation  of  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  means  that  we  consult  the  necessities  of  the 
age  so  far  as  not  in  the  least  to  sacrifice  the  solid  and 
correct  education  of  youth. "  Accordingly,  the  Society 
will  ever  adapt  its  system  in  all  and  to  all  that  is  con- 
ducive to  the  great  end  of  its  educational  labors:  the 
thorough  intellectual  and  moral  training  of  its  pupils. 

i  Dublin  Review,  1866,  vol.  VII,  (p.  208):  "The  Gauine 
controversy  on  Classical  Studies,"  by  R.  B.  V.  —  I  think  the 
writer  is  Roger  Bede  Vaughan,  O.  S.  B.,  later  on  Archbishop 
of  Sydney,  Australia. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Intellectual  Scope. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  mentioned  a  statement 
of  the  present  General  of  the  Society,  "that  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  Ratio  Studiorum  are  not  to  be  sought 
in  the  subject  matter  or  in  the  order,  but  in  what  may 
be  called  the  form  or  the  spirit  of  the  system. ' '  Father 
Martin  explained  in  what  this  form  consists :  "It  con- 
sists chiefly  in  the  training  of  the  mind,  which  is  the 
object,  and  in  the  various  exercises,  which  are  the 
means  to  attain  this  object. ' '  In  these  words  we  have 
the  intellectual  scope  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  in  fact 
the  intellectual  scope  of  every  rational  system  of  edu- 
cation. This  training  of  the  mind  means  the  gradual 
and  harmonious  development  of  all  the  higher  faculties 
of  man,  of  memory,  imagination,  intellect,  and  will. 

The  very  meaning  of  the  word  confirms  this  view: 
to  "  educate "  signifies  to  exercise  the  mental  faculties 
of  man,  by  instruction,  training  and  discipline  in 
such  a  way  as  to  develop  and  render  efficient  the  nat- 
ural powers ;  to  develop  a  man  physically,  mentally, 
morally,  and  spiritually.1  The  mind  is  educated  when 
its  powers  are  developed  and  disciplined,  so  that  it  can 
perform  its  appropriate  work.  In  speaking  of  one  as 
educated,  we  imply  not  merely  that  he  has  acquired 
knowledge,  but  that  his  mental  powers  have  been 
developed  and  disciplined  to  effective  action.  Educa- 
tion is,  consequently,  the  systematic  development  and 

1     The  Standard  Dictionary. 
(297) 


298  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

cultivation  of  the  mind  and  faculties.  In  these  defi- 
nitions we  see  that  education  signifies  development, 
and  rightly  so,  as  its  original  meaning  is  to  ''draw 
out."  The  fundamental  mistake  of  many  modern 
systems  is  the  utter  disregard  of  this  truth.  /  Father 
Bowling,  S.  J. ,  of  Creighton  University,  has  expressed 
this  very  well  in  the  following  words l :  " Unfortunately 
education,  which  ought  to  signify  a  drawing  out,  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  the  proper  word  to  denote  a 
putting  in.  Properly  it  supposes  that  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  mind  capable  of  development,  faculties 
that  can  be  trained,  implicit  knowledge  which  can  be 
made  explicit,  dormant  powers  which  can  be  awakened. 
The  main  end  of  education  should  be  to  unfold  these 
faculties.  \  It  means  not  so  much  the  actual  imparting 
of  knowledge,  as  the  development  of  the  power  to  gain 
knowledge,  to  apply  the  intellect,  to  cultivate  taste, 
utilize  the  memory,  make  use  of  observations  and  facts. 
It  is  not  essential  that  the  studies  which  produce  these 
results  should  be  directly  useful  in  after  life  any  more 
than  it  is  necessary  for  the  athlete  in  the  development 
of  his  powers  to  wield  the  blacksmith's  hammer, 
instead  of  using  dumb-bells  or  horizontal  bars,  none 
of  which  play  any  part  in  his  subsequent  career ;  he 
puts  them  all  aside  when  the  physical  powers  have 
been  developed. " 

The  Germans  express  the  same  idea  admirably  by 
the  name  they  give  to  their  colleges.  They  call  a 
college  a  gymnasium.  Indeed,  this  is  what  a  college 
should  be,  a  place  of  mental  gymnastics,  of  training, 

J  The  Catholic  College  as  a  Preparation  for  a  Business 
Career,  p.  7.  —  See  also  The  Month,  February,  1886:  Educa- 
tion and  School,  by  the  Rev.  John  Gerard,  S.  J. 


THE  INTEI^ECTUAI,  SCOPE.  299 

not  for  the  muscles,  but  the  mind.  Education  ought 
not  to  be  merely  an  accumulating  of  knowledge,  of 
data  from  various  sciences,  of  bits  of  learning  gathered 
here  and  there.  This,  alas,  it  now  is  in  too  many 
modern  systems.  "Give  the  pupils  facts,  broad  infor- 
mation, varied  instruction, "  is  their  watch-word.  And 
yet,  facts,  information,  instruction,  are  only  a  means 
of  educating,  not  education  itself ;  they  are,  to  use  the 
above  mentioned  metaphor,  the  dumb-bells,  the  hori- 
zontal bars,  the  pulleys  of  this  mental  gymnasium,  by 
the  use  of  which  the  mind  acquires  that  agility  and 
nimbleness,  that  quickness  of  action,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  that  gracefulness  and  refinement  which  we  call 
taste,  the  noblest  result  of  a  well  balanced  education. 
A  mind  thus  trained  and  developed  may  then  take  up 
any  special  study.  A  young  man  thus  educated  has 
his  intellectual  tools  sharpened  and  ready  for  use.  He 
will  accomplish  more,  and  will  do  more  thorough  and 
successful  work,  in  any  line  of  professional  or  practical 
work,  than  the  one  who  from  the  beginning  took  up 
special  studies.  Undoubtedly,  the  latter  will  get  an 
earlier  start  in  life ;  when  twenty-five  years  old  he  is 
earning  money,  while  the  former  has  just  finished  his 
long  course  of  training.  But  wait  until  they  are 
thirty-five,  then,  ceteris  paribuSj  the  one  who  laid  a 
deeper  and  broader  foundation  of  general  education, 
will  be  known  as  the  more  successful  lawyer,  physi- 
cian, or  teacher,  perhaps  even  the  more  prosperous 
business  man,  and  certainly  the  more  cultured  and 
more  refined  gentleman,  one  who  exercises  an  elevat- 
ing and  ennobling  influence  on  all  who  come  into 
contact  with  him. 

It  may  safely  be  said  that  one  of  the  worst  features 


7 


300  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

of  modern  educational  systems  is  the  tendency  to  cram 
too  much  into  the  courses  of  study,  too  much  that  is 
considered  " practical' '  in  one  way  or  other.  As  Pro- 
fessor Treitschke  of  Berlin  has  expressed  it,  *  'the 
greatest  danger  that  threatens  the  education  of  modern 
man  lies  in  the  infinite  distraction  of  our  inner  life,  in 
the  superabundance  *  of  mental  impressions  of  every 
sort  that  rush  upon  us  and  hamper  the  one  prerequisite 
of  all  great  work :  recollection  of  soul,  concentration 
of  mind. ' '  Hence  he  thinks  it  absolutely  necessary 
that  youths  should  be  educated  as  simply  as  possible, 
and  should  not  be  mentally  overfed  by  many  and 
various  things.1  \It  is,  indeed,  a  most  serious  mistake 
to  think  that  a  person  who  knows  all  sorts  of  things  is 
educated  ;  no,  sciolism  is  not  culture.  Consequently, 
that  school  is  by  no  means  the  right  one  which 
"coaches"  or  "crams"  for  the  future  profession,  — we 
are  not  speaking  of  the  professional  schools,  —  but 
that  which  trains  the  man,  trains  the  mental  faculties, 
develops  clear  logical  thinking,  cultivates  the  imagina- 
tion, ennobles  the  sentiments,  and  strengthens  the 
will.  This,  indeed,  is  educating,  that  is,  "drawing 
out"  what  lies  hidden  and  undeveloped  in  the  soul. 
Instead  of  this,  many  modern  schools  aim  at  further 
expansion,  which,  considering  the  limited  capacity  of 
the  youthful  mind,  is  inseparable  from  shallowness. 
What  is  gained  in  extent  of  knowledge,  is  necessarily 
lost  in  depth,  thoroughness,  and  mastery  of  the  know- 
ledge acquired.  What  is  sadly  needed  now-a-days  is 
concentration,  a  wise  restriction  of  subjects  which 
leads  to  depth  and  interior  strength. 

The  educational  system  of  the  Society  always  aimed 
1    Neue  Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VIII,  p.  474. 


THK  INTELLECTUAL  SCOPE.  301 

at  a  thorough  general  training  in  a  few  branches. 
Four  characteristic  points  are  discernible  in  this  train- 
ing :  it  is  to  be  thorough,  prolonged,  general,  simple. 
It  is  to  be  thorough;  for  superficial  knowledge,  smat- 
tering, is  not  training.  It  must  be  prolonged;  for 
thoroughness  cannot  be  effected  in  a  short  time.  Time 
is  as  essential  for  maturing  a  man's  mind  and  charac- 
ter, as  it  is  for  ripening  a  choice  fruit ;  one  may  bake 
an  apple  in  a  few  moments,  but  one  cannot  ripen  it  in 
that  time.  Kducation  must,  in  this  regard,  follow  the 
laws  of  nature.  Time  and  prolonged  and  patient 
efforts  are  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  produce 
any  success  in  education.  In  the  third  place  this 
training  is  to  be  general,  not  professional ;  its  aim  is 
the  man,  not  the  specialist;  it  is  the  foundation  on 
which  the  professional  training  is  to  be  built  up.  It  is, 
in  other  words,  a  liberal  training ;  it  has  to  cultivate 
the  ideal,  that  which  is  really  human  and  permanent 
in  life.  What  is  useful  and  practical  will  be  cared  for 
in  time,  and,  as  a  rule,  is  sufficiently  looked  after. 
Lastly,  this  training  must  be  simple,  that  is,  it  must 
be  based  on  a  few  well-related  branches  ;  if  too  many 
disconnected  subjects  are  treated,  thoroughness  becomes 
absolutely  impossible. 

The  modern  tendency  in  education  is  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  It  aims  at  the  useful  and  practical 
rather  than  the  general  training,  or,  at  best,  allots  too 
short  a  time  to  the  general  education.  Hence  the 
very  foundation  of  the  practical  training  is  weak. 
Besides,  it  comprises  too  many  various  subjects,  the 
consuming  of  which  does  not  effect  a  healthy  mental 
growth,  but  an  intellectual  hypertrophy.1  It  is  showy 

1  "The  educational  system  [of  America]  is  undertaking 
too  much,  at  least  in  the  grades  below  the  college.  'Research' 


302  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

in  the  extreme,  and  dazzles  the  eye  of  the  public,  and 
even  of  some  whose  education  and  position  in  the 
world  of  culture  should  be  a  safeguard  against  such 
delusion.  For  these  very  reasons  it  is  most  detrimen- 
tal to  true  progress.  Far-seeing  men,  in  this  country 
as  well  as  in  Europe,  realize  the  dangers  of  this  ten- 
dency, and  warn  all  educators  against  them  most 
emphatically. 

In  an  address  on  the  occasion  of  the  2jih  annual 
commencement  of  the  Jesuit  College,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
1897,  the  Right  Rev.  James  E.  Quigley,  D.  D.,  Arch- 
bishop of  Chicago,  said:  '  'We  Americans  are  a  practical 
people,  but  we  are  also  impatient.  We  cannot  arrive 
at  our  goal  quickly  enough.  We  send  the  boys  to  a 
high  school  for  three  or  four  years,  and  then  we  call 
them  away  and  send  them  to  the  study  of  law  or  med- 
icine. Now  I  would  tell  the  parents :  if  you  want  to 
make  a  lawyer  or  a  doctor  of  your  son,  let  him  finish 
the  college  course,  he  will  be  the  better  for  it  in  his 
profession.  We  have  now  lawyers  and  doctors  enough, 
what  we  need  is  better  lawyers  and  better  doctors. ' ' 

Dr.  McCosh,  for  twenty  years  President  of  Prince- 
ton College,  says:  "There  is  a  loud  demand  in  the 
present  day  for  college  education  being  made  what 
they  call  practical.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  mistake. 
A  well  known  ship-builder  once  said  to  me  :  '  Do  not 
try  to  teach  my  art  in  school ;  see  that  you  make  the 
youth  intelligent,  and  then  I  will  easily  teach  him 
ship-building. '  The  business  of  a  college  is  to  teach 
scientific  principles  of  all  sorts  of  practical  application. 

is  attempted  where  drill  is  what  is  needed . ' '  President  Draper 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  Educational  Review^  May  1902, 
p.  455.  —  See  also  the  words  of  Ex-President  Cleveland,  re- 
ferred to  on  p.  294,  and  the  Electrical  World,  I.  c. 


THK  INTEIvWCTUAI,  SCOPE.  303 

The  youth  thus  trained  will  start  life  in  far  better 
circumstances  than  those  who  have  learned  only  the 
details  of  their  craft,  which  are  best  learned  in  offices, 
stores  and  factories,  and  will  commonly  outstrip  them 
in  the  rivalries  of  life.  He  will  be  able  to  advance 
when  others  are  obliged  to  stop. ' ' 1 

Professor  Miinsterberg  of  Harvard  University,  in 
his  article  on  School  Reform,2  speaks  admirably  on  the 
same  subject.  He  points  out  the  various  fallacies 
underlying  the  system  that  advocates  the  earliest 
possible  beginning  of  specialization.  He  ably  proves 
that  the  pretensions  of  this  system  are  wrong,  and  its 
calculations  superficial,  even  from  the  merely  utilita- 
rian and  mercenary  standpoint.  But  above  all,  this 
system  is  to  be  condemned  from  the  standpoint  of 
liberal  education.  The  Harvard  Professor  writes : 
"The  higher  the  level  on  which  the  professional 
specializing  begins,  the  more  effective  it  is.  I  have 
said  that  we  German  boys  did  not  think  of  any  special- 
ization and  individual  variation  before  we  reached  a 
level  corresponding  to  a  college  graduation  here.  In 
this  country,  the  college  must  still  go  on  for  a  while 
playing  the  double  role  of  the  place  for  the  general 
education  of  the  one,  and  the  workshop  for  the  pro- 
fessional training  of  the  other ;  but  at  least  the  high 
school  ought  to  be  faithful  to  its  only  goal  of  general 
education  without  professional  anticipations.  More- 
over, we  are  not  only  professional  wage  earners ;  we 
live  for  our  friends  and  our  nation ;  we  face  social  and 
political,  moral  and  religious  problems ;  we  are  in 

1  The  Life  of  James  McCosh,  edited  by  W.  M.  Sloane, 
p.  204. 

2  Atlantic  Monthly,  May  1900,  p.  662  foil. 


304  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

contact  with  nature  and  science,  with  art  and  litera- 
ture ;  we  shape  our  towns  and  our  time,  and  all  that 
is  common  to  every  one,  —  to  the  banker  and  the 
manufacturer,  to  the  minister  and  the  teacher,  to  the 
lawyer  and  the  physician.  The  technique  of  our  pro- 
fession, then,  appears  only  as  a  small  variation  of  the 
large  background  of  work  in  which  we  all  share  ;  and 
if  the  education  must  be  adapted  to  our  later  life,  all 
these  problems  demand  a  uniform  education  for  the 
members  of  the  same  social  community.  The  division 
of  labor  lies  on  the  outside.  We  are  specialists  in  our 
handiwork,  but  our  heart  work  is  uniform,  and  the 
demand  for  individual  education  emphasizes  the  small 
differences  in  our  tasks,  and  ignores  the  great  similar- 
ities. And,  after  all,  who  is  able  to  say  what  a  boy 
of  twelve  years  will  need  for  his  special  life  work? 
It  is  easily  said  in  a  school  programme  that  the  course 
will  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  particular  pupil 
with  respect  to  his  later  life,  but  it  would  be  harder  to 
say  how  we  are  to  find  out  what  the  boy  does  need  ; 
and  even  if  we  know  it,  the  straight  line  to  the  goal 
is  not  always  the  shortest  way. ' ' 

Mr.  Clement  L,.  Smith  is  not  less  outspoken  on 
this  topic1:  "  An  education  which  aims  to  equip  men 
for  particular  callings,  or  to  give  them  a  special  train- 
ing for  entering  upon  those  callings,  however  useful  it 
may  be,  is  not  the  liberal  education  which  should  be 
the  single  aim  of  the  college.  It  should  be  the  aim  of 
the  secondary  school,  too,  —  if  not  for  all  pupils,  cer- 
tainly for  those  who  are  going  to  college.  For  those 
who  turn  away,  at  the  end  of  the  school  course,  to 

1  "The  American  College  in  the  20th  Century,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  Feb.  1900. 


INTEU^CTUAI,  SCOPE.  305 

train  themselves  for  some  .technical  pursuit,  let  ap- 
propriate technical  schools  be  provided,  and  let  them 
be  held  in  all  honor.  But  they  should  not  masquerade 
as  institutions  for  liberal  education.  Above  all,  they 
should  not  invade  the  province  of  the  college,  intro- 
ducing confusion,  and  turning  it  into  a  place  where 
there  are  a  number  of  unconnected  and  independent 
educations  going  on  at  the  same  time,  instead  of  a 
place  where,  though  there  are  many  paths,  they  all 
lead  to  a  single  goal.  lEor  the  essence  of  a  liberal 
education  lies  in  the  aim,  not  in  the  studies  pursued,1 
—  not  in  letters,  not  in  science.  These  are  the  mate- 
rials with  which  it  works;  and  employs  them,  not  to 
make  professional  or  technical  experts,  but  to  make 
men  and  women  of  broader  views,  of  greater  intellec- 
tual power,  J-  better  equipped  for  whatever  profession 
or  employment  they  may  undertake,  and  for  their 
equally  important  function  of  citizen  and  neighbor. ' ' 
The  Honorable  James  Bryce,  a  man  excellently 
fitted  to  express  his  opinion  on  American,  as  well  as 
on  European,  questions,  a  few  years  ago,  while  ad- 
vocating a  special  commercial  training,  warns  against 
shortening  the  time  allotted  to  general  education, 
whether  elementary  or  secondary.  On  the  contrary, 
the  further  the  general  education  can  be  carried,  the 
better  for  the  young  man,  and  more  would  be  lost  by 
curtailing  the  time  spent  on  the  subjects  which  every- 
body should  learn,  than  would  be  gained  by  any  special 
preparation  for  a  particular  employment.  He  reminds 
the  people  of  England  and  the  United  States  that  the 
demand  for  a  commercial  education  might  do  more 

1    Almost  literally  what  Father  Martin  declared  to  be  the 
essence  of  Jesuit  education.     See  above  p.  286  and  297. 
20 


306  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

harm  than  good,  "  were  it  -to  lead  to  a  shortening  or 
to  a  commercializing  of  general  school  education,  or 
were  it  to  dispose  us  to  ignore  the  supreme  importance 
of  securing  that  the  teaching  of  the  commercial  sub- 
jects themselves  shall  be  so  directed  as  to  arouse  and 
stimulate  the  faculties  no  less  than  to  inform  the  mem- 
ory of  the  learner. ' ' l 

Long  before  this,  Arnold  had  spoken  in  similar 
terms:  "It  is  no  wisdom  to  make  boys  prodigies  of 
information,  but  it  is  our  wisdom  and  our  duty  to 
cultivate  their  faculties,  each  in  its  season,  first  the 
memory  and  the  imagination,  and  then  the  judgment, 
to  furnish  them  with  the  means  and  to  excite  the  de- 
sire of  improving  themselves. ' ' 2  The  most  enlightened 
and  experienced  German  educators  insist  on  this  point 
as  strongly  as  any  of  those  whose  authority  is  cited 
above. 3  It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  fact  that  these 
writers  clearly  and  strikingly  express  the  same  opinion 
about  the  intellectual  scope  of  education  as  the 
Jesuits,  namely,  that  real  education  does  not  consist 
in  merely  imparting  information,  but  in  training  the 
mental  faculties,  in  the  efformatio  ingeniij  as  the  Gen- 
eral of  the  Society  called  it  in  1893. 

In  this  country  the  question  about  the  intellectual 
scope  of  education  is  closely  connected  with  the 
other  most  important  question :  What  is  the  function 

1  North  American  Review,  June  1899. 

2  Fitch,   Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  61. 

3  See  especially  Weissenfels,    Die  Bildungswirren  der 
Gegenwart,  Berlin,  1901. — Matthias,  Aus  Schule,  Unterricht 
und  Erziehung,  1901.  —  Professor  Weissenfels,    throughout 
his  book,  expresses  his  deepest  anxiety  at  the  ever  increasing 
spirit  of  utilitarianism  in  German  schools. 


THK  INTEI^KCTUAI,  SCOPK.  307 

of  the  high  school  and  college  ?  Aside  from  the  cham- 
pions of  extreme  electivism,  there  is  no  educator  of 
note  who  does  not  consider  general  culture  the  function 
of  the  high  school.  A  great  number  of  prominent 
educators  do  not  hesitate  to  assign  the  same  function 
to  the  college,  relegating  specialization,  the  acquisition 
of  scholarship,  or  professional  skill,  entirely,  or  for 
the  main  part,  to  the  university.  The  college  should 
concern  itself  with  the  final  stage  of  secondary  educa- 
tion; it  ought  to  stimulate  general  culture  and  to  train 
character,  rather  than  to  impart  specific  instruction. 
A  college  President  declared  that  the  first  step  towards 
a  betterment  is  the  reassertion  of  the  aim  and  nature 
of  college  life.  The  university,  demanding  for  en- 
trance a  bachelor's  degree,  is  the  crown  of  our  educa- 
tional system.  Its  province  is  higher  education,  the 
cultivation  of  advanced  scholarship  and  research.  But 
•*  'the  college  should  give  itself  no  airs.  It  should  not 
pretend  to  be  a  university. ' ' 1 

It  needs  scarcely  be  stated  that  the  Jesuits'  view 
of  the  college  is  exactly  the  same.  They  assign  no 
other  function,  no  other  aim  to  it  than  general  culture, 
harmonious  training  of  the  mind. 

1  President  Jones  of  Hobart  College,  in  the  Forum, 
January  1901 :  Is  the  College  Graduate  Impracticable  1 — The 
greatest  difficulty  in  this  country  lies  in  the  fact  that  pupils 
go  too  late  to  the  high  school  or  college.  The  study  of  Latin 
should  be  commenced  at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve  years,  in- 
stead of  thirteen  or  fourteen.  See  Dr.  Stanley  Hall,  Forum, 
Sept.  1901;  and  below  ch.  XVI,  §  1.  — The  same  is  advocated 
by  Professor  Nightingale  in  the  Report  of  the  Conference  on 
English,  read  before  the  National  Association  of  Education, 
at  Ashbury  Park,  N.  J.,  1894.  German  boys  begin  with  nine 
or  ten  years,  why  should  not  the  clever  American  boy  be  able 
to  begin  with  ten  or  eleven  ? 


308  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

How  is  this  training  of  the  mind  to  be  obtained  ? 
The  Jesuit  answers :  By  exercise,  that  is,  by  the  dif- 
ferent exercises,  such  as  are  laid  down  in  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  :  exercises  of  the  intellect  —  translations, 
compositions ;  exercises  of  the  memory  —  recitations 
and  declamations ;  debates  (academies) ,  etc.  These 
exercises  have  sometimes  been  styled  "mechanical"; 
still  how  can  any  training  be  effected  except  by  devices 
according  to  strict  rule  ?  Certainly  not  by  the  mere 
lecture  of  the  teacher,  however  scholarly  or  interesting 
it  may  be.  No  one  becomes  an  athlete  by  attending 
lectures  on  gymnastics,  and  no  one  becomes  a  perfect 
soldier  by  reading  the  U.  S.  Infantry  Drill  Book  ;  but 
practice,  drill,  exercise  is  required.  No  one's  mental 
faculties  will  ever  become  really  developed,  unless  he 
is  trained  and  drilled.  The  insisting  on  this  funda- 
mental principle  is  probably  the  most  characteristic 
point  in  the  educational  system  of  the  Society.  Prac- 
tice and  exercise  run  all  through  the  different  grades, 
beginning  from  the  teaching  of  the  elements  of  Latin 
up  to  the  highest  course  of  theology.  It  is  the  same 
great  principle  of  the  necessity  of  self -exertion,  self- 
activity  which  Ignatius  so  forcibly  insists  upon  in  that 
admirable  little  book,  which  he  justly  calls  the  "Spir- 
itual Exercises. ' '  As  there  the  exercitant  is  exhorted 
to  act  for  himself,  and  not  merely  to  suffer  himself  to 
be  acted  upon,  so  here  the  pupil  is  required  from  the 
beginning  to  act,  not  merely  to  listen,  to  exert  himself 
in  the  various  prescribed  exercises. 

As  these  exercises  will  be  spoken  of  in  a  later 
chapter  of  this  book, l  we  need  not  discuss  them  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  ablest  educators  of  the  nine- 

1     Chapter  XVI. 


THK  INTKUvECTUAI,  SCOPE.  309 

teenth  century  have  recommended  exercises  which 
are  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  Society.  So 
Dr.  Arnold,  the  famous  head-master  of  Rugby;  Dr. 
Wiese,  for  decades  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in 
the  Prussian  Ministry  of  Education ;  Dr.  M.  Seyffert, 
the  great  Latinist.  In  the  introduction  to  his  excellent 
Scfycdae  Latinae,  Dr.  Seyffert  has  the  following : 
"I  thought  this  work,  the  fruit  of  twenty-five  years 
experience,  was  something  new.  However,  I  had 
scarcely  finished,  when  through  the  information  of  a 
friend  of  mine,  I  found  out  that  there  was  nothing  new 
under  the  sun.  The  merit  and  honor  of  the  invention 
belongs,  as  I  know  now,  to  the  seventeenth  century, 
and,  as  hardly  can  be  expected  otherwise,  to  the  dili- 
gence of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits,  who  wrere  unwearied 
in  preparing  pedagogical  helps  and  means.  I  shall 
be  satisfied  if  my  work  finds  only  one  tenth  of  the 
approval  which  their  work  found,  and  as  I  think, 
most  deservedly  found. ' '  Another  great  educator  of 
Germany,  K.  L,.  Roth,  said  :  "Exercise  was  the  secret 
of  the  old  college-systems  ;  it  forced  the  pupil  daily  to 
use  for  the  formation  of  his  judgment  the  material 
accumulated  to  excess  in  his  memory."  T-; 

1    Iu  his   Gymnasial-Padagogik;  see  Duhr,  p.  119. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Prescribed  Courses  or  Elective  Studies? 

Intimately  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  last 
chapter  is  a  question  now  much  discussed  in  pedagog- 
ical' circles,  namely,  whether  the  " old-fashioned0 
prescribed  courses  are  the  best  way  of  attaining  the 
object  of  education,  the  training  of  the  mind,  or 
whether  the  elective  system  should  claim  the  mono- 
poly in  the  education  of  our  nation. 

Not  many  years  ago  the  secondary  school  pro- 
grammes offered  a  single  course  of  study,  or  at  most 
two  courses  which  were  to  be  pursued  in  order  to 
obtain  the  diploma  of  the  school.  The  principal  course 
consisted  of  Latin,  Greek,  history  and  mathematics. 
At  present  we  find  in  most  secondary  schools  a  num- 
ber of  parallel  courses,  and  the  disposition  is  growing 
to  regard  the  different  courses  as  of  equal  value  and 
dignity.  It  has  been  said  by  advocates  of  the  new 
system  that  "the  old  narrow  course,  with  its  formal 
contents  and  mechanical  routine,  is  doomed ;  and  a 
richer  course  of  study,  with  a  broader  and  more  in- 
spiring conception  of  the  elementary  school-teacher's 
responsibilities  and  opportunities,  is  taking  its  place. "  l 

Whence  these  changes  ?  Not  from  the  conviction 
of  teachers  that  the  old  system  was  bad  and  inefficient; 
but,  as  Professor  Hanus  says,  these  changes  are 
chiefly  the  result  of  external  demands  of  parents  and 

1  Hanus,  Educational  Aims  and  Educational  Values 
(1900),  pp.  76,  78. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    311 

sons  and  daughters.  They  have  not  been  stimulated 
by  the  marked  encouragement  of  the  colleges  ;  for,  at 
the  present  day,  several  important  colleges  still  decline 
to  regard  any  pre-collegiate  course  of  study  as  com- 
parable in  value  to  the  traditional  classical  course.1 
Would  it  not  have  been  the  duty  of  the  '  'leading" 
schools  of  the  country  to  lead  public  opinion,  and  not 
allow  themselves  to  be  guided  by  it?  When  some 
large  and  influential  schools  adopted  many  par- 
allel courses,  the  majority  of  the  smaller  and  less 
important  schools  imitated  the  larger  ones,  or  were 
practically  forced  to  do  so.  After  these  schools  had 
yielded  to  external  demands,  it  was  but  natural  that 
there  "has  also  come  a  desire  on  the  part  of  all  to 
justify  such  programmes  by  an  appeal  to  reason. " 2 

This  appeal  has  been  made  most  forcibly  by  Presi- 
dent Eliot  on  various  occasions.  We  have  heard  that 
his  most  serious  charge  against  Jesuit  colleges  is 
their  adherence  to  prescribed  courses.  To  this  indict- 
ment the  President  added  :  "Nothing  but  an  unhesi- 
tating belief  in  the  Divine  wisdom  of  such  prescrip- 
tions can  justify  them  ;  for  no  human  wisdom  is  equal 
to  contriving  a  prescribed  course  of  study  equally  good 
for  even  two  children  of  the  same  family,  between  the 
ages  of  eight  and  eighteen.  Direct  revelation  from 
on  high  would  be  the  only  satisfactory  basis  for  a  uni- 
form prescribed  school  curriculum.  The  immense 
deepening  and  expanding  of  human  knowledge,  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  the  increasing  sense  of  the 

1  Ibid.>   p.  78.  —  However,    a  writer  in  the   Electrical 
World  (Oct.  25,  1902)  maintains  that  "the  present  anomalous 
status  of  the  college  is  due  perhaps  more  to  its  own  laudable 
but  ill-judged  ambition  than  to  the  pressure  of  the  times." 

2  Ibid.,  p.  26. 


312  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

sanctity  of  the  individual's  gifts  and  will  power,  have 
made  uniform  prescriptions  of  study  in  secondary 
schools  impossible  and  absurd.  We  must  absolutely 
give  up  the  notion  that  any  set  of  human  beings, 
however  wise  and  learned,  can  ever  again  construct 
and  enforce  on  school  children  one  uniform  course  of 
study.  The  class  system,  that  is,  the  process  of  in- 
structing children  in  large  groups,  is  a  quite  sufficient 
school  evil,  without  clinging  to  its  twin  evil,  an  in- 
flexible programme  of  studies.  Individual  instruction 
is  the  new  ideal. ' ' l 

If  this  new  ideal  of  individual  instruction  should 
be  carried  out  consistently  —  and  the  patrons  of  this 
electivism  certainly  ought  to  work  at  the  realization  of 
this  ideal  state  —  we  might  in  the  twentieth  century 
see  the  day,  when  for  five  thousand  students  at  Har- 
vard there  will  be  no  less  than  five  thousand  instruc- 
tors. No  wonder  that  all  these  pupils  will  turn  out 
geniuses,  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  before. 
It  seems  certain  that  great  results  are  anticipated  by 
President  Eliot.  For  he  concludes  his  paper  with  the 
words:  * 'These  gains  are  noiseless  but  persuasive; 
they  take  effect  on  five  hundred  thousand  pupils  every 
year.  Have  we  not  here  some  solid  ground  for  hope- 
fulness about  the  Republic,  both  as  a  form  of  govern- 
ment and  as  a  state  of  society  ?" 

Not  less  amusing  is  the  absolute  certainty  with 
which  President  Eliot  affirms  that  electivism  is  the 
only  system  which  can  claim  a  right  to  exist.  He 
says:  " Direct  revelation  from  on  high  would  be  the 
only  satisfactory  basis  for  a  uniform  prescribed  school 
curriculum,  and  nothing  but  an  unhesitating  belief  in 

1    Atlantic  Monthly,  Oct.  1899,  p.  443. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    313 

the  Divine  wisdom  of  such  prescriptions  can  justify 
them."  Does  not  the  President  himself  claim  almost 
a  superhuman  infallibility  when  he  straightway  asserts: 
"Uniform  prescriptions  in  secondary  schools  have 
been  made  impossible  and  absurd.  We  must  absolutely 
give  up  the  notion  that  any  set  of  human  beings,  how- 
ever wise  and  learned,  can  ever  again  construct  and  en- 
force on  school  children  one  uniform  course  of  study. ' ' l 
Could  any  one,  whether  prophet  or  pope,  speak  with 
more  certainty,  than  President  Eliot  does  in  this  pas- 
sage? How  can  uniform  prescriptions  be  styled  im- 
possible and  absurd,  when  they  are  exacted  in  whole 
countries,  and  not  only  among  half-civilized  Moslems, 
or  "decaying"  Latin  races,  but  also  in  "Teutonic" 
States,  for  instance  in  Germany,  a  country  which 
leads  in  scholarship  and  of  late  years  has  so  rapidly 
advanced  also  in  industrial  and  commercial  enterprise, 
that  it  is  considered  a  formidable  rival  of  American 
industry  and  commerce?  The  absolute  certainty  with 
which  President  Eliot  proclaims  his  views  is  all  the 
more  unwarranted  if  we  compare  them  with  what 
other  distinguished  scholars  think  on  this  subject. 

We  quoted  before  the  words  of  Professor  Russell  of 
Columbia,  that  the  experience  of  Germany  can  teach 
us  much,  especially  that  "a  uniform  course  of  study 
for  all  schools  of  a  particular  grade,  and  a  common 
standard  for  promotion  and  graduation,  can  be  made 
most  serviceable  in  a  national  scheme  of  education. ' ' 2 
Mr.  Canfield,  in  his  interesting  book  The  College 
Student  and  Ms  Problems,  cautions  the  student  in  the 
following  terms:  "The  more  specialized  your  course, 

1     The  Italics  are  ours. 

9     German  Higher  Schools,  p.  409.     See  above  p.  9, 


314  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  more  certain  ought  you  to  be  that  the  end  is  that 
which  you  desire.  It  is  quite  necessary,  therefore, 
that  you  know  yourself  and  your  purposes,  something 
quite  definite  of  your  capacity  and  powers,  if  you  are 
to  make  a  wise  selection  of  your  work.  In  the  ineffi- 
ciency or  inexactness  of  such  knowledge  the  college 
finds  one  weakness  and  one  danger  in  multiplying 
courses  or  in  enlarging  the  number  of  electives  within 
a  course.  For  very  few  young  men  know  themselves 
at  the  age  at  which  they  enter  college,  and  I  think 
that  others  know  them  less.  ...  It  is  because  of  this 
uncertainty  of  purpose  and  this  ignorance  of  self 
that  the  wisest  educators  and  the  most  thoughtful 
students  of  mankind  have  always  given  such  loyal  ad- 
herence to  the  general  culture  courses,  and  especially 
to  the  classical  courses.  This  adherence  does  not 
mean  that  all  culture  power  is  denied  to  other  courses. 
It  is  simply  an  insistence  upon  that  broad  and  human- 
izing work  which  has  been  and  which  ever  will  be 
one  of  the  best  and  surest  foundations  for  large  and 
generous  life. ' ' l  Nothing  less  is  contained  in  these 
statements  than  a  condemnation  of  President  Eliot's 
electivism.  For,  if  a  choice  of  a  specialized  course 
without  perfect  knowledge  of  self  is  a  great  danger  to 
the  college  student,  how  much  more  to  the  pupil  in 
the  high  school?  Or,  if  very  few  know  themselves 
when  entering  college,  how  many  can  be  expected  to 
know  themselves  when  entering  the  high  school? 
Another  remark  is  most  significant.  President  Eliot 
asserts  that  "Moslems  and  Jesuits"  uphold  the  old 

1  The  College  Student  and  his  Problems,  by  J.  H.  Can- 
field,  formerly  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Nebraska  and 
President  of  Ohio  State  University.  (New  York,  MacMillan, 
1902)  pp.  44—46. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    315 

prescribed  courses;  the  former  President  of  Ohio  State 
University  does  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  for  the  most 
weighty  reasons,  " the  wisest  educators  and  the  most 
thoughtful  students  of  mankind  have  always  given 
loyal  adherence  to  the  general  culture  courses,  and 
especially  to  the  classical  courses,"  that  is  practically, 
to  the  old  prescribed  courses. 

But  to  return  to  the  Jesuit  system.  President  Eliot 
is  perfectly  correct  in  stating  that  it  defends  a  pre- 
scribed curriculum.  However,  it  does  not  exclude, 
but  in  many  places  admits  distinct  parallel  courses; 
beside  the  classical  course  there  may  be  offered  an 
English  course,  consisting  chiefly  in  English,  history, 
modern  languages,  some  of  the  natural  sciences  and 
mathematics;  or  a  Scientific  course  in  which  mathe- 
matics and  natural  sciences  are  the  principal  subjects 
taught.  But  these  courses  have  to  be  followed  as  laid 
down,  at  least  in  the  main  subjects.  Nor  do  the 
Jesuits  exclude  a  certain  amount  of  election  in  second- 
ary branches.  We  say  secondary,  as  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  not  all  branches  are  of  the  same 
educational  value.  For  who  would  have  the  hardi- 
hood to  say,  that  music  and  drawing,  or  even  botany 
and  zoology,  are  as  well  fitted  to  develop  the  mental 
faculties  as  the  old-fashioned  course  of  classics  and 
mathematics?  The  Society  at  least  does  not  dare  to 
affirm  it,  and  in  this  she  is  at  one  with  the  best  edu- 
cators of  all  ages,  our  own  not  excepted.  Dr.  McCosh 
said  years  ago  in  the  famous  debate  with  President- 
Eliot :  "At  Harvard  a  young  man  has  two  hundred 
courses  from  which  he  may  choose,  and  many  of  these 
courses,  I  am  compelled  to  call  dilettante.  I  should 
prefer  a  young  man  who  has  been  trained  in  an  old- 


31 6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

fashioned  college,  in  rhetoric,  philosophy,  Latin, 
Greek,  and  mathematics,  to  one  who  had  frittered 
away  four  years  in  studying  the  French  drama  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  little  music  and  similar  bran- 
ches." l  Again  Dr.  McCosh  maintains  "there  should 
be  required  studies  for  all  who  pursue  a  full  course  for 
a  degree,  and  the  required  studies  should  be  disciplin- 
ary, affording  true  mental  training.  Such  studies  are 
English,  Greek,  L,atin,  German,  French,  history, 
mathematics  and  physical  science. ' ' 2 

The  objections  of  the  Jesuits  to  the  extreme 
electivism  are  mainly  two.  The  first  is  that  they 
apprehend  serious  dangers  for  the  intellectual  training 
from  this  new  system.  As  was  said  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  intellectual  scope  of  the  Jesuit  system  is  a 
thorough  general  training  of  the  mind.  There  are  the 
gravest  reasons  to  fear  that  this  training  can  scarcely 
be  expected  from  the  elective  system  as  practised 
in  many  schools.  The  second  objection  arises  from 
the  conviction  that  the  moral  training  of  the  students 
will  be  injured  if  the  choice  of  studies  is  to  any  great 
extent  left  to  them,  especially  if  they  are  allowed  to 
change  the  branches  which  they  find  difficult  and  dis- 
agreeable. For,  greatly  as  the  Jesuits  value  the  in- 
tellectual training  of  their  pupils,  they  attach  far 
greater  importance  to  the  moral  training,  to  the  train- 
ing of  the  will  and  the  development  of  character. 

President  Kliot  implicitly  asserts  that  the  Jesuits, 
as  upholders  of  prescribed  courses,  violate  the  sanctity 
of  the  individual's  will-power.  This  is  a  serious 
charge.  In  answer  to  it  we  may  first  quote  the  words 

1  Life  of  James  McCoshy  p.  201. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  200. 


PRESCRIBKD  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?  317 

of  a  prominent  educator  who  in  the  strongest  terms 
makes  the  same  charge  against  systems  like  that  of 
President  Eliot.  Professor  Weissenfels  of  Berlin  wrote 
in  1901:  *'In  our  times  the  moment  comes  relatively 
early  when  the  special  gifts  and  abilities  of  the  in- 
dividual try  to  assert  themselves.  But  let  it  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  are  brilliant  abnormities.  The 
talent  for  a  special  science,  particularly  mathematics, 
or  for  a  special  art,  particularly  music,  even  in  child- 
hood, gets  a  tyrannical  ascendancy  over  everything 
else.  Shall  we  give  free  play  to  it  *  and  foster  it?  Or 
shall  we  at  first  endeavor  to  counteract  it,  or  at  least 
keep  from  it  all  that  could  stimulate  still  more  the  in- 
clination which  is  in  itself  too  strong?  Among  the 
tolerably  intelligent  there  is  but  one  opinion:  they 

distrust  precociousness It  is  justly  considered 

want  of  common  sense,  nay  more,  a  sin  against  the 
child's  soul,  to  make  advances  to  the  impatience  with 
which  the  special  aptitude  is  trying  to  assert  itself, 
and  thus  to  add  fuel  to  the  fire. ' ' l  The  author  further 
calls  this  system  a  criminal  mutilation  of  the  soul,  and 
maintains  that  the  special  talent,  if  unduly  and  pre- 
maturely fostered  will  be  like  a  rank  weed  that  stifles 
every  other  inclination  and  thus  destroys  all  harmony 
of  mind  and  character. 

We  hear  now-a-days  so  much  about  the  " sanctity 
of  the  individual's  will"  that  one's  idea  of  human 
nature  may  easily  get  confused.  True,  there  is  some- 
thing sacred  in  human  nature,  because  it  is  the  image 
and  likeness  of  its  Maker.  Still,  that  sanctity  of  man 
is  not  pure  and  unalloyed,  that  image  is  not  altogether 

1  Weissenfels,  Die  Bildungswirren  der  Gegenwart,  pp. 
324—329. 


31 8  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

intact  and  spotless.  Divine  revelation,  the  world's 
history,  daily  experience  and  our  innermost  conscience 
tell  us  that  there  are  disorders  and  derangements,  that 
there  are  not  only  holy  and  divine,  but  also  animal 
desires,  not  only  upward,  but  also  downward  tenden- 
cies in  our  nature.  The  great  Apostle  testifies  to  this 
truth,  when  he  exclaims:  "For  I  know  that  there 
dwelleth  not  in  me,  that  is  to  say,  in  my  flesh,  that 
which  is  good.  For  to  will  is  present  with  me;  but  to 
accomplish  that  which  is  good,  I  find  not.  For  the 
good  which  I  will,  I  do  not;  but  the  evil  which  I  will 
not,  that  I  do."  1  Now  this  "law  of  sin  which  fights 
against  the  spirit' '  manifests  itself  differently  according 
to  the  different  dispositions  and  the  age  of  the  in- 
dividual. In  youth,  it  assumes  generally  the  shape  of 
love  of  pleasure  and  enjoyment  together  with  a  ten- 
dency to  idleness,  and  "idleness  is  the  fruitful  mother 
of  many  vices. ' '  The  old  educational  systems  believed 
in  Allopathy,  and  thought  that  these  moral  diseases 
could  be  cured  effectively  only  by  means  which  directly 
attack  the  root  of  the  evil.  So  they  tried  seriously  to 
occupy  a  boy's  mind,  to  accustom  him  to  hard,  steady 
work,  to  fight  against  his  dislikes,  to  do  his  duty  and 
-to  break  his  will.  But,  we  are  told,  that  was  all 
wrong,  it  was  only  the  outcropping  of  the  severe  and 
gloomy  asceticism  of  former  ages.  Our  modern  peda- 
gogues have  discovered  that  Homoeopathy  alone  will 
do  in  education.  *  'The  poor  children  are  overburdened, 
make  it  easy  for  them.  Give  full  vent  to  the  pupil's 
inclinations  and  do  not  force  him  to  anything  he  dis- 
likes. For  this  would  be  interfering  with  the  sanctity 
of  the  individual!" 

1    Romans  7,  18. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    319 

If  the  old  view  of  life  and  youth  and  education 
savors  of  asceticism,  the  new  one  is  sheer  materialism. 
But  setting  aside  all  supernatural  considerations,  we 
must  condemn .  the  extreme  electi vism  of  the  modern 
system  on  merely  natural  grounds.  Nor  is  this  attitude 
peculiar  to  the  Society  of  Jesus;  it  is  firmly  maintained 
by  educators  who  in  their  religious  tenets  differ  widely 
from  ourselves.  Professor  Miinsterberg  has  well  pointed 
out  the  damage  which  results  from  this  system  to  the 
character  of  the  child,  to  the  '  'formal  side  of  educa- 
tion," as  he  styles  it.  "A  child  who  has  himself  the 
right  of  choice,  or  who  sees  that  parents  and  teachers 
select  these  courses  according  to  his  tastes  and  inclina- 
tions, may  learn  a  thousand  pretty  things,  but  never 
the  one  which  is  the  greatest  of  all:  to  do  his  duty. 
He  who  is  allowed  always  to  follow  the  paths  of  least 
resistance  never  develops  the  power  to  overcome 
resistance;  he  remains  utterly  unprepared  for  life.  To 
do  what  we  like  to  do,  —  that  needs  no  pedagogical 
encouragement:  water  always  runs  down  hill.  Our 
whole  public  and  social  life  shows  the  working  of  this 
impulse,  and  our  institutions  outbid  one  another  in 
catering  to  the  taste  of  the  public.  The  school  alone 
has  the  power  to  develop  the  opposite  tendency,  to 
encourage  and  train  the  belief  in  duties  and  obliga- 
tions, to  inspire  devotion  to  better  things  than  those  to 
which  we  are  drawn  by  our  lower  instincts.  Yes, 
water  runs  down  hill  all  the  time;  and  yet  all  the  earth 
were  sterile  and  dead  if  water  could  not  ascend  again 
to  the  clouds,  and  supply  rain  to  the  field  which 
brings  us  the  harvest.  We  see  only  the  streams  going 
down  to  the  ocean;  we  do  not  see  how  the  ocean  sends 
up  the  waters  to  bless  our  fields.  Just  so  do  we  see  in 


320  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  streams  of  life  the  human  emotions  following  the 
impulses  down  to  selfishness  and  pleasure  and  enjoy- 
ment, but  we  do  not  see  how  the  human  emotions 
ascend  again  to  the  ideals,  —  ascend  in  feelings  of 
duty  and  enthusiasm;  and  yet  without  this  upward 
movement  our  fields  were  dry,  our  harvest  lost.  That 
invisible  work  is  the  sacred  mission  of  the  school;  it  is 
the  school  that  must  raise  man's  mind  from  his  likings 
to  his  belief  in  duties,  from  his  instincts  to  his  ideals, 
that  art  and  science,  national  honor  and  morality, 
friendship  and  religion,  may  spring  from  the  ground 
and  blossom. ' ' 

According  to  Dean  Briggs  of  Harvard,1  no  people 
lay  themselves  more  recklessly  open  to  reductio  ad  ab- 
surdum  than  advocates  of  the  elective  system.  They 
wish  to  put  enjoyment  into  education,  without  being 
sure  that  such  education  is  robust  enough.  He  quotes 
the  example  of  Dr.  Martineau,  who  gave  double  time 
to  the  studies  he  disliked,  in  order  to  correct  the  weak 
side  of  his  nature  rather  than  to  develop  its  strong 
side.  Now  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  to  such  length ; 
studies  need  not  be  imposed  because  they  are  difficult 
and  unpleasant,  but  if  they  are  of  real  educational 
value  they  should  be  imposed  although  they  are  hard 
and  unpleasant.  Still,  no  branch  is  of  any  educational 
value,  unless  it  presents  difficulties;  the  mental  powers 
are  called  into  action  and  are  trained  only  if  they  have 
to  overcome  obstacles. 

Some  pedagogists  sneer  at  the  idea  that  resistance, 
the  overcoming  of  obstacles,  plays  an  important  part 
in  education.  Herein,  however,  they  manifest  their 
shortsightedness.  The  old  adage,  "Fast  gotten,  fast 

1    Atlantic  Monthly,  October  1900. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    321 

gone, ' '  might  be  expressed  in  somewhat  different  form: 
''Easily  gotten,  easily  gone."  Dr.  Stanley  Hall, 
President  of  Clark  University,  whose  fame  as  an 
educator  is  widely  acknowledged,  has  well  said : 
"Only  great,  concentrated  and  prolonged  efforts  in  one 
direction  really  train  the  mind,  because  they  alone 
train  the  will  beneath  it. ' '  President  Jones  of  Hobart 
College  speaks  to  a  like  purpose  :  "The  college  must 
not  always  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  The  in- 
tellectual life  has  also  its  athletic  exercises,  and  mental 
slouchiness  is  no  less  to  be  regretted  than  physical 
insufficiency.  The  youthful  will  needs  cultivation  no 
less  than  the  growing  body. ' ' 1 

On  the  same  head  Mr.  Townsend  Austen  wrote 
most  appositely  in  the  North  American  Review  (May 
1898).  He  severely  censures  those  systems  of  educa- 
tion which  attempt  to  remove  as  far  as  possible  the 
obstacles  from  the  course  of  study.  He  rightly  main- 
tains that  the  finest  nature  is  the  one  out  of  which  the 
dross  has  been  squeezed  by  painful  pressure,  and  the 
precious  metal  has  been  hammered  and  beaten  into 
shape.  The  human  being  rarely  works  more  than  he 
has  to.  He  appreciates  by  instinct  an  easy  thing  — 
what  college  students  call  a  'snap'.  Some  of  the 
strongest  points  of  our  nature  are  best  called  out  by 
resistance.  This  element  in  education  should  never 
be  overlooked.  To  eliminate  the  element  of  difficulty 
from  a  study  is  an  act  of  dishonesty;  it  deceives  the 
student.  The  practice  side  of  almost  any  study  is  not 
interesting,  but  is  often  rather  tedious  and  must  be  so: 
for  instance,  to  spell  correctly,  to  write  good  English, 
to  draw  well,  to  reason  clearly.  —  This  repugnance 

1     The  Forum,  January  1901,  p.  592. 
21 


322  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

constitutes  one  of  the  numerous  forms  of  resistance 
offered  to  success  in  human  endeavor;  drudgery  is  the 
bridge  to  success.  The  honors  of  this  life  must  be 
won,  as  the  Germans  say  (and  how  well  the  progress 
of  that  nation  illustrates  it),  "mil  saurem  Scliweiss," 
and  by  the  application  of  another  German  proverb : 
"Geduld  bricht  Eisen"  (patience  breaks  iron).  In 
the  development  of  character  in  the  youth  the  wise 
instructor  finds  the  application  of  this  principle  most 
useful  and  efficient.  Will  power  is  acquired.  The 
acquisition  of  self-control,  by  which  I  mean  not  only 
the  ability  to  control  the  passions,  but  also  to  compel 
the  action  of  the  mental  powers  upon  a  given  subject, 
is  aided.  The  German  historian,  von  Ranke,  has 
stated  as  a  principle  in  human  development,  that  "all 
progress  is  through  conflict. '  '  The  results  become  of 
value,  because  they  have  a  value  in  work.1 

Now  this  last  principle  was  the  favorite  one  of  the 
founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  he  used  to  in- 
culcate on  every  occasion,  quoting  the  words  of 
Thomas  a  Kempis  :  Tantum  proficies,  quantum  tibi  ipsi 
vim  intuleris  —  "The  greater  violence  thou  offerest  to 
thyself,  the  greater  progress  thou  wilt  make."  But 
the  "make-it-easy"  method  —  and  such  is  the  elective 
system  as  advocated  by  its  foremost  champions  —  is 
pernicious  to  the  formation  of  the  character. 

Not  less  serious  is  the  harm  done  to  instruction,  as 
distinguished  from  moral  education.  If  the  choice  of 
subjects  is  left  to  the  personal  likings  of  the  pupils,  in 
many,  if  not  in  most  cases,  such  branches  will  be 
chosen  which  seem  to  be  the  easiest,  no  matter  what 

1  Peter  Townsend  Austen:  "The  Educational  Value  of 
Resistance,"  North  Am.  Rev.y  May  1898. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    323 

their  educational  value  is.  No  one  who  knows  human 
nature  will  deny  this.  But  that  the  subjects  left  to  the 
choice  of  the  students  are  not  all  equally  capable  of 
giving  a  thorough  mental  discipline,  is  quite  evident  ; 
and  the  easier  the  subject,  the  less  is,  as  a  rule,  its 
educational  value. 

There  are  several  false  assumptions  in  the  conten- 
tions of  the  advocates  of  electivism.  They  state  with- 
out hesitation  that  the  first  and  foremost  object  of 
modern  education  is  to  develop  the  special  aptitudes  of 
the  pupils,  and  they  apply  this  not  only  to  college  but 
also  to  high  school  education.  But  this  is  a  most 
serious  mistake.  The  application  of  the  pupil's  talent 
to  specialties  belongs  to  the  university  and  the  profes- 
sional school ;  but  in  the  secondary  schools,  and  even 
in  the  college,  special  aptitudes  may  and  should  be 
left  to  themselves.  They  will  assert  themselves  when 
the  occasion  offers,  and  the  wise  teacher  will  be  more 
solicitous  to  prevent  them  from  warping  the  whole 
course  of  education  than  to  promote  their  abnormal 
development. l  Special  aptitudes  must  be  developed 
after  the  general  education  is  completed. 

The  premature  and  excessive  development  of  such 
special  aptitudes  will  invariably  result  in  products 
which  have  been  called  "lop-sided".  It  is  lyOwell 
who  said :  "I  had  rather  the  college  turn  out  one  of 
Aristotle's  four-square  men,  capable  of  holding  his 
own  in  whatever  field  he  may  be  cast,  than  a  score  of 
lop-sided  ones  developed  abnormally  in  one  direction. ' ' 
The  outcome  of  such  education,  or  rather  instruction, 
is  a  sort  of  mental  deformity  :  one  faculty  is  over- 

1  See  Francis  J.  Barnes,  M.  D.,  Catholic  Education.  A 
lecture  delivered  at  Boston,  April  28,  1901. 


324  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

developed,  while  the  others  are  suffering  from  atrophy. 
If  the  ' 'special  aptitude'*  of  the  student  lies  in  the 
field  of  natural  sciences  or  technics,  he  is  liable  to 
neglect  altogether  literature,  history  and  philosophy, 
branches  which  are  indispensable  for  the  real  culture 
of  the  mind.  He  becomes  a  narrow  specialist,  he 
swells  the  host  of  those  men  who  even  now  afflict  the 
community,  men  who  are  incapable  of  forming  a  sane 
opinion  on  any  question  which  cannot  be  decided  by 
a  laboratory  experiment.  Such  men  have  no  percep- 
tions of  the  relations  and  interrelations  of  the  various 
branches  of  knowledge ;  they  lack  all  appreciation  of 
what  is  noble  and  sublime ;  above  all  they  are  most 
liable  to  ignore,  or  even  to  deny,  that  beyond  the 
narrow  limits  of  natural  science  lie  truths  of  the  utmost 
importance,  unattainable  by  any  process  of  synthetic 
reasoning.  It  is  such  warped  specialists  that  Goethe 
ridicules  in  the  famous  passage  in  Faust  (part  2,  act  i): 

"Herein  you  learned  men  I  recognize  : 
What  you  touch  not,  miles  distant  from  you  lies  ; 
What  you  grasp  not,  is  naught  in  sooth  to  you ; 
What  you  count  not,  cannot  you  deem  be  true ; 
What  you  weigh  not,  that  hath  for  you  no  weight ; 
What  you  coin  not,  you're  sure  is  counterfeit." 

There  is  always  a  danger  that  science  leads  to  pride, 
particularly  to  that  kind  of  pride  which  the  Germans 
call  Gelehrtenstolz  and  Professorendiinkel.  This  danger 
is  especially  great  in  the  case  of  specialists.  Professor 
Paulsen  quotes  a  passage  from  Kant,  in  which  the 
philosopher  of  Konigsberg  speaks  of  "Cyclopses  of 
science,"  who  carry  an  immense  weight  of  learning, 
a  "load  of  a  hundred  camels,"  but  who  have  only  one 
eye,  namely  that  of  their  own  specialty.1  They  lack 

1    Die  deutschen  Universitdteny  Berlin  1902,  p.  219. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    325 

entirely  the  "philosophic  eye,"  with  which  they  see 
the  relations  of  things  to  one  another.  Of  such  men 
Schopenhauer,  in  his  wonted  forcible  but  not  over- 
polite  manner,  has  said :  "The  man  who,  disregarding 
everything  else,  studies  one  branch,  will  in  this  branch 
be  superior  to  the  rabble  (yulgus),  but  in  all  the  rest 
he  will  belong  to  it.  If  to  this  specialization  is  added  a 
thing  which  now-a-days  becomes  more  and  more  com- 
mon, namely,  the  neglect  of  the  ancient  languages, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  general  humanistic  cul- 
ture is  dropped,  then  we  shall  see  scientists  who, 
outside  their  special  branch,  are  real  oxen."  This 
danger  can  be  obviated  only  by  a  solid  general  train- 
ing. But  the  earlier  the  specialization  begins,  the 
greater  shall  be  the  temptation  to  disregard  all  other 
branches,  and  to  despise  all  those  who  know  little 
about  this  special  subject,  no  matter  how  much  they 
know  in  other  branches.  This  is  intellectual  pride, 
as  contemptible  as  it  is  ridiculous. 

After  having  described  some  of  the  effects  which 
must  necessarily  result  from  elect ivistn,  as  defended 
by  some,  we  now  turn  to  a  plain  question,  which  has 
been  well  stated  by  Professor  Miinsterberg.  "Are 
elective  studies  really  elected  at  all?  I  mean,  do  they 
really  represent  the  deeper  desires  and  demands  of  the 
individual,  or  do  they  not  simply  express  the  cumula- 
tion of  a  hundred  chance  influences?  I  have  inten- 
tionally lingered  on  the  story  of  my  shifting  interests 
in  my  boyhood ;  it  is  more  or  less  the  story  of  every 
half-way  intelligent  boy  or  girl.  A  little  bit  of  talent, 
a  petty  caprice  favored  by  accident,  a  contagious  craze 
or  fad,  a  chance  demand  for  something  of  which 
scarcely  the  outside  is  known, — all  these  whir  and  buzz 


326  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

in  every  boyhood ;  but  to  follow  such  superficial 
moods  would  mean  dissolution  of  all  organized  life, 
and  education  would  be  an  empty  word.  Election 
which  is  more  than  a  chance  grasping  presupposes 
first  of  all  acquaintance  with  the  object  of  our  choice. 
Even  in  the  college  two  thirds  of  the  elections  are 
haphazard,  controlled  by  accidental  motives ;  election 
of  courses  demands  a  wide  view  and  broad  knowledge 
of  the  whole  field.  The  lower  the  level  on  which  the 
choice  is  made,  the  more  external  and  misleading  are 
the  motives  which  direct  it.  A  helter-skelter  chase 
of  the  unknown  is  no  election.  If  a  man  who  does 
not  know  French  goes  into  a  restaurant  where  the 
bill  of  fare  is  given  in  the  French  language,  and  points 
to  one  and  to  another  line,  not  knowing  whether  his 
order  is  fish,  or  roast,  or  pudding,  the  waiter  will 
bring  him  a  meal,  but  he  cannot  say  that  he  has 
'elected  his  course. '  From  whatever  standpoint  I  view 
it,  the  tendency  to  base  the  school  on  elective  studies 
seems  to  me  a  mistake,  —  a  mistake  for  which,  of 
course,  not  a  special  school,. but  the  social  conscious- 
ness is  to  be  blamed. ' ' l 

1  Atlantic  Monthly,  May  1900,  pp.  665-666.  —  To  judge 
from  numberless  commeuts  in  newspapers  and  magazines, 
Prof.  Miiusterberg's  article  seems  to  have  caused  a  great  stir, 
as  coming  from  one  of  the  most  prominent  Professors  of 
Harvard,  the  centre  of  the  movement  towards  electivism. 
The  New  York  Nation,  on  May  17,  page  379,  said  as  follows : 
"If  Professor  Miinsterberg's  article  on  'School  Reform*  in 
the  Atlantic  cannot  be  answered  effectively,  something  is 
radically  wrong  with  our  scheme  of  education."  Various 
attempts  were  made  to  answer  the  Professor's  indictments  of 
the  elective  system,  v.  g.  in  the  Educational  Review,  June 
and  September  1900.  But  the  answers  were  anything  but 
effective.  The  Nation  had  said,  "what  we  are  most  curious 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    327 

The  same  truth  has  been  expressed  in  very  plain 
language  by  other  American  educators.  We  mention 
a  few  utterances  of  more  recent  date.  President 
Draper,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  declared  recently: 
"Children  are  being  told  that  they  should  elect  their 
studies.  They  cannot  elect. ' ' 1  Professor  Peck  of 
Columbia  University,  reviewing  Father  Brosnahan's 
answer  to  President  Eliot's  charges,  speaks  of  the  lat- 
ter's  "theories  which  have  made  Harvard  into  a 
curious  jumble  of  college  and  university,  and  which 
President  Eliot  would  like  to  see  carried  down  into  the 
schools,  in  the  apparent  belief  that  babes  and  suck- 
lings have  an  intuitive  and  prophetic  power  of  determ- 
ining just  what  is  going  to  be  best  for  them  in  all  their 
after  life/' 2  Mr.  Tetlow,  of  Boston,  calls  the  elective 
system  '  'elective  chaos,  and  philosophical  anarchism, ' ' 
and  he  lays  down  these  propositions  :  the  students  are 
not  competent  to  direct  their  own  studies  ;  most  of  the 
parents  are  utterly  incompetent  to  make  an  intelligent 
choice,  too  many  will  readily  accept  the  choice  made 

to  know  is  what  they  thiuk  about  it  at  Harvard."  A  Grad- 
uate Student  wrote  soon  after  from  Harvard  :  "I  wish  to  call 
attention  to  a  result  of  the  elective  system  which  he  [Prof. 
Miinsterberg]  has  not  mentioned,  and  which  might  even 
strengthen  his  argument— a  result  most  disgraceful,  yet  most 
common,  and  whose  truth  cannot  be  ignored.  I  refer  to  the 
undisguised  custom  of  electing  'snap  courses,' — courses  in 
which,  for  various  reasons,  good  marks  can  be  made  without 
much  work.  For  the  desire  for  honors,  and  the  fear  of  being 
thought  a  'dig',  are  two  very  potent  factors  in  determining 
a  choice."  (Nation,  May  24,  p.  396.)  This  statement  is  not 
at  all  surprising ;  it  confirms  what  intelligent  men  had  ex- 
pected from  such  a  system. 

1  Educational  Review,  May  1902,  p.  455. 

2  Bookman,  April  1900. 


328  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

by  the  children ;  the  principals  and  teachers  are  in 
most  cases  incompetent  to  make  a  wise  choice  for  the 
pupils,  as  they  are  hardly  ever  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  individual  scholars.1  Indeed,  to  make  such 
a  choice  for  the  individual  would  require  nothing  less 
than  " direct  revelation  from  on  high,"  as  no  man 
knows  sufficiently  the  talent  and  possibilities  that  may 
lie  dormant  in  the  mind  of  a  young  student.  If  this 
system  is  the  outcome  of  the  much  vaunted  child  study 
and  pedagogical  psychology,  we  have  little  reason  to 
boast  of  this  modern  science.  And  we  think  those 
are  amply  justified  who,  against  this  "apotheosis  of 
individual  caprice,"  defend  the  old  system  which 
prescribes  those  branches  that  give  a  solid  general 
training  and  thereby  prepare  the  mind  for  taking  up 
successfully  any  specialty  in  due  time.  The  phil- 
osophical basis  of  this  system  is  undoubtedly  sound, 
whereas  the  elective  system  fully  deserves  the  stigma 
of  ' 'philosophical  anarchism". 

We  have  purposely  dwelt  longer  on  the  question 
of  "electives,"  as  a  serious  charge  has  recently  been 
raised  against  the  educational  institutions  of  the 
Jesuits  for  not  accepting  the  electivism  of  some  modern 
reformers.  After  having  quoted  the  opinions  of 
leading  educators  on  that  subject,  we  may  ask :  Was 

1     Educational  Review,  January  1901.     We  may  be  ex- 
cused for  quoting  the  following  lines  from  the  same  Review, 
May  1900,  which  not  unaptly  travesty  the  elective  system : 
Most  pupils,  like  good-natured  cows, 
Keeping  browsing  and  forever  browse  ; 
If  a  fair  flower  come  in  their  way, 
They  take  it  too,  nor  ask,  "what,  pray  ?" 
Like  other  fodder  it  is  food, 
And  for  the  stomach  quite  as  good. 


PRESCRIBED  COURSES  OR  ELECTIVE  STUDIES?    329 

that  charge  justified?  —  It  is  superfluous  to  ask, 
whether  the  Society  will  ever  adopt  that  excessive 
electivism  advocated  by  several  educationists.  The 
Society  considers  this  system  as  destructive  of  thorough 
education. 

As  early  as  1832  the  General  of  the  Order,  in  an 
encyclical  letter  on  education  addressed  to  his  subjects, 
thus  spoke  of  new  inventions:  "As  to  the  methods, 
ever  easier  and  easier,  which  are 'being  excogitated, 
whatever  convenience  may  be  found  in  them,  there  is 
this  grave  inconvenience  :  first,  that  what  is  acquired 
without  labor  adheres  but  lightly  to  the  mind,  and 
what  is  summarily  gathered  is  summarily  forgotten  ; 
secondly,  and  this,  though  not  adverted  to  by  many, 
is  a  much  more  serious  injury,  almost  the  principal 
fruit  of  a  boy's  training  is  sacrificed,  which  is,  accus- 
toming himself  from  an  early  age  to  serious  application 
of  mind,  and  to  that  deliberate  exertion  which  is 
required  for  hard  work. " l  A  comparison  with  former 
quotations  shows  an  almost  literal  identity  of  these 
remarks  with  those  of  Prof.  Miinsterberg  and  other 
American  educators.  This  agreement,  in  our  humble 
opinion,  is  no  discredit  to  either  party.  Before  con- 
cluding this  chapter,  we  repeat  once  more  that  the 
Jesuits  are  not  absolutely  opposed  to  the  election  of 
courses  or  branches.  But  they  think  with  many  other 
educators  that  the  elective  system  could  work  well 
only  with  many  limitations  and  safeguards.  Such 
limitations  are  nothing  else  but  prescriptions  of  certain 
branches. 

1     Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  291. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Classical  Studies. 

Much  has  been  written  within  the  last  few  decades 
for  and  against  the  value  of  the  study  of  the  classical 
languages  and  literature. l  Some  writers,  especially 
fanatical  advocates  of  "modern"  culture,  see  in  the 
humanistic  school  only  a  gloomy  ruin  of  the 
time  of  the  renaissance,  which  stands  in  the 
midst  of  the  grand  structures  of  modern  culture,  half 
monastery,  half  pagan  temple.  Latin  and  Greek 
philologists  have  built  their  nests  in  its  dilapidated 
walls,  like  owls  that  shun  the  bright  light  of  day, 
and  in  the  dusk  they  flutter  about  to  frighten  and 
torment  poor  children  with  their  cries  of  monstrous 
L,atin  and  Greek  forms.  Others,  the  one-sided  ad- 

1  There  exists  a  vast  literature  on  this  subject.  Of  more 
recent  publications  we  mention  only  those  of  a  man  whose 
opinions  must  be  of  special  interest  to  American  educators, 
viz.  those  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
W.  T.  Harris:  A  Brief  for  Latin  —  On  the  Function  of  the 
Study  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Modern  Education  —  Place  of 
the  Study  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Modern  Education,  and 
Herbert  Spencer  and  what  to  Study  (Educational  Review, 
September  1902) .  In  this  last  article  Commissioner  Harris 
very  ably  refutes  Spencer's  attacks  on  the  study  of  the  clas- 
sics. —  Of  older  works  we  wish  to  call  attention  to  one  of  an 
American  ecclesiastic,  which  is  almost  unknown :  Bishop 
England* s  Address  on  Classical  Education  (Bishop  England* s 
Works,  vol.  V,  pp.  13 — 31),  in  which  the  advantages  of  a 
classical  education  are  set  forth  with  admirable  force  and 
lucidity. 

(330) 


CLASSIC AI,    STUDIES.  331 

mirers  of  the  "practical"  studies,  above  all  of  the 
natural  sciences,  decry  the  classical  studies  as  useless, 
because  they  do  not  teach  the  rising  generation  how 
to  build  bridges  or  war  vessels,  how  to  make  aniline 
colors,  or  how  to  utilize  best  the  oil  fields  of  Texas,  or 
the  Western  prairies.  These  men  do  not  appreciate 
classical  studies  because,  to  use  the  words  of  Brown- 
son,  they  cannot  reduce  them  immediately  to  any  cor- 
responding value  in  United  States  currency.  They 
would  rather  fill  their  pockets  with  Attic  oboli  and 
drachmae  than  their  brains  with  Attic  thought.  In  a 
word,  to  them  education  is  only  the  wild  race  after 
the  hen  that  lays  the  golden  eggs.  All  other  require- 
ments they  count  for  nothing.  Such  views  are  based 
on  an  utter  misconception  of  the  intellectual  scope  of 
education,  and  on  sheer  ignorance  of  the  educational 
value  of  the  classics.  This  point  we  endeavor  to 
illustrate  in  the  present  chapter. 

The  Society  of  Jesus  has  always  valued  classical 
studies  most  highly.  In  the  preface  to  his  Ratio 
Discendi  et  Docendi,  Father  Jouvancy  says:  "Any 
one  acquainted  with  the  Society  of  Jesus  knows  how 
highly  she  always  esteemed  the  classical  studies. " 
Of  late  the  Society  has  even  been  censured  for  cling- 
ing tenaciously  to  them,  as  to  a  venerable,  but  now 
out-of-date,  curriculum.  Be  it  remarked  from  the 
very  outset,  that  the  Society  upholds  the  classical 
curriculum  not  because  this  is  the  old  traditional 
system,  but  because  it  has  so  far  proved  the  best  means 
of  training  the  mind,  which  is  the  one  great  end  of 
education.  The  various  branches  of  studies  are  the 
means  to  this  end.  Should  other  means  prove  better 
than  the  classical  languages,  the  Jesuits  would  not 


332  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

hesitate  to  accept  them.  They  would  teach,  let  us  say 
French  and  German,  instead  of  Latin  and  Greek.1 
They  would  not  have  to  change  their  system,  they 
would  apply  it  only  to  the  new  branches.  And  the 
much  lauded  new  method  of  teaching  modern  lan- 
guages by  practice  and  exercise,  is  essentially  what 
the  Ratio  Studiorum  has  insisted  on  all  along.  How- 
ever, the  Jesuits  are  not  so  short-sighted  as  to  claim 
for  the  classical  studies  the  educational  monopoly 
which  these  studies  held  in  former  ages.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  so-called  modern  high  school, 
which  has  a  curriculum  of  English,  some  other  mod- 
ern languages,  mathematics,  and  natural  sciences, 
answers  to  particular  needs  of  our  age.  It  is  especially 
fitted  for  those  who  want  to  devote  only  a  few  years 
to  study  after  the  completion  of  the  elementary  course. 
For  this  reason  the  Jesuits  have  opened  in  various 
countries  such  ''modern  high  schools/'  v.  g.  the 
Institut  St.  Ignacej  Antwerp.  In  some  of  these 
schools  they  employ. for  many  branches  secular  pro- 
fessional teachers,  for  instance  in  the  successful 
"army  class"  attached  to  the  College  at  Wimbledon, 
England.  Still  they  think  that  the  best  preparation 
for  the  professions  and  for  all  who  wish  to  exert  a  far- 
reaching  influence  on  their  fellow-men,  is  the  complete 
classical  course,  together  with  mathematics,  history, 
and  a  certain  amount  of  natural  sciences.  They  think, 
and  with  much  reason,  that  the  classical  studies  even 
at  present  should  form  the  backbone  of  liberal  ecluca- 

1  As  early  as  1843  in  the  College  of  Freiburg,  Switzer- 
land, besides  Latin  and  Greek,  French,  German,  Knglish, 
Italian,  and  Spanish  were  taught,  some  as  obligatory,  others 
as  optional  branches.  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp,  5-46  ff. 


CLASSICAL,  STUDIES.  333 

tion.  They  think,  with  many  other  prominent  educa- 
tors, that  the  humanistic  studies  train  the  man,  whereas 
the  sciences  train  the  specialist. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  fully  the  question 
of  the  value  of  the  study  of  L,atin  and  Greek  for  liberal 
education  or  general  culture.  Still,  we  cannot  refrain 
from  enumerating  a  few  testimonies  in  their  favor; 
and  that  they  may  be  the  more  effective,  we  shall  ex- 
clude those  of  professors  of  classical  languages,  who 
in  this  matter  might  be  looked  upon  as  prejudiced 
witnesses  who  speak  pro  domo  sua.  Many  interesting 
statements  were  made  some  ten  years  ago  by  the  ablest 
schoolmen  of  Germany  in  the  famous  Berlin  Con- 
ference preparatory  to  the  "New  Plan  of  Studies"  for 
the  Higher  Schools  of  Prussia,  which  was  promul- 
gated in  1892. 1  The  relative  educational  value  of  the 
various  branches  was  discussed  most  thoroughly,  and 
it  is  surprising  to  find  what  professors  of  mathematics, 
natural  sciences,  and  medicine  have  to  say  in  favor  of 
classical  studies.  Dr.  Holzmiiller,  Director  of  a  com- 
mercial and  industrial  school,  said:  "I  am  a  mathe- 
matician and  professor  of  mathematics,  a  thorough 
Realist,  but  I  sound  a  warning  against  exaggerating 
the  educational  value  of  mathematics  in  higher  schools. 
The  range  of  thought  and  ideas  in  mathematical 
Studies  is  narrow ;  whereas  the  linguistic  studies  have 
many  more  forms  of  thought  at  their  disposal."2 
Professor  Helmholtz  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  one 
of  the  leading  scientists  of  the  nineteenth  century, 

1  See  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1889 — 90, 
vol.  I,  pp.  343 — 398 ;  and  especially  Schmid,  Geschichte  der 
Erziehung,  vol.  V,  Abteilung  I,  pp.  357—422. 

2  Duhr,  p.  89  foil. 


334  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

said  in  the  same  conference:  ' 'The  study  of  the  ancient 
languages  alone  has  so  far  proved  to  be  the  best  means 
of  imparting  the  best  mental  culture. ' ' 1  As  a  proof 
he  gives  his  own  experience  in  the  physical  laboratory 
of  the  Berlin  University,  where  the  students  that  had 
made  the  classical  course,  after  one  year's  laboratory 
work  surpassed  those  who  had  made  the  so-called 
science  course  (Realschulen) ,  although  the  latter  had 
studied  much  more  natural  science  than  the  former. 
Professor  Virchow,  one  of  the  greatest  medical  author- 
ities, although  strongly  opposed  to  the  then  prevailing 
methods  of  the  gymnasium,  made  a  plea  for  the  classi- 
cal studies,  saying  that  "the  dropping  of  Latin  would 
prove  most  dangerous  and  injurious  to  the  medical 
profession."  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  this  famous 
pathologist,  who  died  but  a  few  months  ago,  was  an 
enthusiastic  student  and  admirer  of  Greek  Literature. 
The  verdict  of  these  scholars  was  based  on  personal 
experience  made  at  the  University  of  Berlin  some 
years  before.  In  1899,  seven  years  after  Latin  had 
suffered  a  severe  loss  in  consequence  of  the  School 
Order  of  1892,  Professor  Virchow  bitterly  complained 
in  the  German  Parliament,  that  "grammar  had  been 
kicked  out  of  the  gymnasia,  and  with  it  logic."  2 

The  graduates  of  the  German  schools  which  deal 
with  practical  subjects,  and  prepare  students  for  com- 
mercial pursuits,  or  for  entrance  into  polytechnic 
institutes,  were  at  first  debarred  from  entrance  into 
the  universities,  being  considered  unqualified  for 
university  work  ;  but  in  1870  they  were  admitted,  on 
equal  terms  with  the  graduates  of  classical  schools,  to 

1  Schinid,  /,  c.y  p.  379.     (Rep.  of  C.  of  Ed.,  L  c.y  p.  372.) 

2  Schmid,  /.  c.,  p.  443. 


CLASSICAL,    STUDIES.  335 

the  philosophical  department  of  the  universities. 
After  ten  years  trial  of  this  plan  the  philosophical 
faculty  of  the  University  of  Berlin  addressed  to  the 
Ministry  of  Instruction  a  memorandum,  which  is  de- 
clared to  be  the  most  powerful  plea  ever  made  in 
behalf  of  classical  studies.  They  declared  unhesitat- 
ingly that  the  students  of  the  practical  schools  were 
not  fitted  to  pursue  a  university  course  on  a  par  with 
the  graduates  of  the  classical  schools,  and  that,  if  the 
plan  was  reversed,  German  scholarship  would  soon  be 
a  thing  of  the  past.  Even  the  representatives  of 
science  and  modern  languages  in  the  faculty  joined 
heartily  in  this  judgment.  In  specifying  the  reasons 
why  the  admission  of  the  non-classical  graduate  was 
injurious  to  the  interests  of  higher  education,  the 
thirty-six  professors  mentioned  slower  development, 
superficial  knowledge,  lack  of  independent  judgment, 
inferiority  in  private  research,  less  dexterity,  want  of 
keenness,  and  defective  power  of  expression. 

Since  1890  new  and  significant  results  were  ob- 
tained in  Germany,  which  prove  that  the  classical 
course,  besides  the  better  liberal  training  which  it 
imparts,  is  no  less  fitted  as  a  preparation  for  technical 
studies  than  the  courses  pursued  in  the  Real- Gymna- 
sium and  the  Oberrealschule.  This  was  attested  in  the 
last  Berlin  Conference  (1900),  by  professors  of  the 
Technical  Institutes.  The  Professors  of  the  Technical 
Institutes,  v.  g.  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  adduced  statistics 
to  this  effect  from  their  respective  schools.1  Professor 

1  Verhandlungen  uber  Fragen  des  hoheren  Unterrichtsy 
1902,  pp.  10,  18.  Be  it  said,  however,  that  Professor  Slaby  of 
Charlottenburg  maintained  that  the  graduates  of  the  Gymna- 
sium in  his  school  were  not  as  successful  in  the  sciences  as 
those  of  the  scientific  schools.  Ibid.,  p.  378. 


336  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

L,aunhart  of  the  Technical  Institute  (Hochschule)  of 
Hanover  stated  that,  from  1890-99,  1209  candidates 
were  examined  ;  583  from  the  humanistic  gymnasium, 
588  from  the  Real- Gymnasium,  and  31  from  the  Ober- 
realschule.  The  results  of  the  examinations  proved 
that  the  different  courses  had  been  equally  efficient 
in  preparing  pupils  for  the  technical  studies.  Be  it 
remembered  that  the  humanistic  gymnasium  devotes 
less  time  to  mathematics  and  natural  sciences,  studies 
specially  required  for  the  technical  schools,  than  the 
other  two  kinds  of  schools.  This  result,  therefore, 
speaks  very  well  for  the  solid  mental  training  of  the 
classical  schools. 

Still  more  interesting  are  the  statements  of  Dr. 
Vogt,  who  is  professor  of  mathematics  in  parallel 
classes  of  the  humanistic  Gymnasium  and  the  Reform- 
Gymnasium  at  Breslau.  This  position  gives  him  an 
exceptional  opportunity  to  compare  the  results  of  the 
two  systems.  In  the  lower  classes  of  the  Reform- 
School  French  is  taught,  in  the  humanistic  gymnasium 
L,atin.  Professor  Vogt  and  his  colleagues  made  the 
following  observations  in  the  third  class  (Quarta):  In 
124  hours  of  the  Reform-School  they  could  not  achieve 
more  than  in  the  84  hours  of  the  I^atin  course.  Age, 
talent,  and  other  conditions  of  the  students  were  com- 
pared, and  it  was  found  that  all  in  all  the  two  classes 
were  equal.  Does  it  not  necessarily  follow  from  this 
fact  that  French  does  not  afford  the  same  mental  train- 
ing as  lyatin?  Professor  Vogt  maintains  in  general, 
that  the  pupils  of  the  gymnasium  acquire  less  in 
mathematics  than  those  of  the  Real-Schulen,  if  the 
extent  of  knowledge  is  considered,  but  that  their 
knowledge  of  mathematics  is  more  intense,  more 


STUDIES.  337 

thorough.  This  he  ascribes  to  the  more  intense  and 
more  thorough  training  that  L,atin  affords.1  In  fact, 
this  contention  is  amply  proved  by  the  above  men- 
tioned results  obtained  in  the  Technical  Institutes. 

The  following  testimony  of  a  distinguished  German 
writer,  who  had  a  large  experience  in  this  matter,  may 
claim  the  attention  of  all  educators.  Dr.  Karl  Hilde- 
brand  writes :  ' '  If  it  were  conceivable  that  a  youth 
should  entirely  forget  all  the  facts,  pictures,  and  ideas 
he  has  learned  from  the  classics,  together  with  all  the 
rules  of  L,atin  and  Greek  grammar,  his  mind  would 
still,  as  an  instrument,  be  superior  to  that  of  one  who 
has  not  passed  through  the  same  training.2  To  give 
an  example,  I  may  state  that  in  my  quality  of  inspec- 
tor it  was  my  duty  to  visit  a  very  large  number  of 
French  lyc£es  and  colleges,  each  of  which  is  usually 
connected  with  an  ecole  speciale  or  professionelle,  and 
here  I  found  that  the  classical  pupils,  without  excep- 
tion, acquired  more  English  and  German  than  the 
others,  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  the  time.  (The  time 
devoted  to  living  languages  was  six  hours  a  week  for 
four  years  in  the  special,  and  only  one  hour  and  a  half 
a  week  for  three  years  in  the  classical  schools. )  The 
same  fact  struck  me  in  my  visits  to  the  German, 

1  Die    Mathematik    im    Reform  -  Gymnasium.      Neue 
Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VIII,  pp.  190—218. 

2  The  same  idea  is  well  expressed  by  Edw.  Tliring  in  his 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching :  "The  trained  mind  is  like 
a  skilled  workman  with  his  tools,  the  mind  merely  stocked 
with  knowledge  is  like  a  ready  made  furniture  shop.     The 
one  needs  but  a  small  outlay  to  equip,  and  when  equipped  he 
can  always  produce  the  things  he  wants.     The  other  is  costly 
to  provide,  and  when  provided  is  good  only  for  the  exact 
articles  it  contains."      The  Month,  February  1886. 

22 


338  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

Belgium,  Dutch,  and  Swiss  colleges.  ...  A  similar 
experience  may  be  gathered  from  practical  life.  One 
of  the  first  bankers  in  a  foreign  capital,  lately  told  me 
that  in  the  course  of  a  year  he  had  given  some  thirty 
scholars  —  who  had  been  educated  expressly  for  com- 
merce in  commercial  schools  —  a  trial  in  his  offices, 
and  was  not  able  to  make  use  of  a  single  one  of  them, 
while  those  who  came  from  the  grammar  schools, 
although  they  knew  nothing  whatever  of  business 
matters  to  begin  with,  soon  made  themselves  masters 
of  them."1 

The  same  evidence  may  be  given  for  England. 
English  papers,  on  the  experience  of  leading  English 
firms,  combated  the  idea  that  a  universit}^  degree  was 
of  no  use  to  a  man  intended  for  business.2  Mr.  Bryce, 
no  mean  authority  on  this  subject,  concludes  the 
article  in  which  he  advocates  a  special  commercial 
training,  with  this  significant  remark  :  "This  paper  is 
not  designed  to  argue  on  behalf  of  what  is  called  a 
modern  or  non-classical  education.  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  think  that  either  the  ancient  languages,  or 
what  are  called  'literary'  or  'humanistic'  subjects, 
play  too  large  a  part  in  our  schools,  either  in  England 
or  in  the  United  States.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe 
(basing  myself  on  such  observations  as  I  have  been 
able  to  make)  that  Latin  and  Greek,  when  properly 
taught,  are  superior  as  instruments  of  education  to  any 
modern  language,  and  that  'literary'  subjects,  as  his- 
tory, are  on  the  whole  more  efficient  stimulants  to  the 
mind  (taking  an  average  of  minds)  than  mathematics 
or  natural  science. ' ' 3 

1  Contemporary  Review,  August  1880. 

2  See  The  Month,  Febr.  1886,  pp.  170—176. 

3  North  American  Review,  June  1899. 


Cl,ASSICAl,   STUDIES.  339 

If  Mr.  Huntington,  the  late  railroad  king,  dis- 
approved of  colleges,  because  their  training  unfitted 
the  young  men  for  practical  life,  and  discounted  their 
chances  for  becoming  millionaires,  the  right  answer 
seems  to  have  been  given  by  President  Jones  of  Hobart 
College.  "Boys  who  have  followed  science,  mathe- 
matics, and  literature  to  their  best  results,  are  not, 
upon  graduation,  anxious  to  be  brokers'  runners  or 
bank  clerks  at  five  or  ten  dollars  per  week,  and  do  not 
exhibit  a  dawdling  inaccuracy,  whatever  their  pur- 
suits. The  fresh  graduate  Mr.  Huntington  complained 
of  has  usually  'skinned  through  college,'  and  has  been 
unsatisfactory  there  also. ' ' l  He  was  one  of  the 
"students"  who  found  football  reports  more  enticing 
than  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics;  hence  '  'their  short- 
comings and  their  commercial  inefficiency  are  evi- 
dently not  the  results  and  handicaps  of  scholarship. ' ' 

Here  we  must  add  that  the  popular  argument 
against  the  classical  studies  is  very  superficial.  We 

1  The  Forum,  Jan.  1901,  p.  584.  However,  in  the  Report 
delivered  at  the  Commencement  of  Yale  1902,  President 
Hadley  could  quote  the  following  words  of  a  leading  employer 
of  railroad  labor:  "When  I  want  a  college  man,  I  want  a  man 
who  knows  that  it  is  hard  work  to  use  books  that  are  worth 
anything ;  and,  as  a  preparation  for  railroad  service,  I  would 
rather  have  a  man  who  has  used  one  hard  book  without  lik- 
ing it  —  a  Greek  dictionary  if  you  please  —  than  a  man  who 
thinks  he  knows  all  the  experimental  science  and  all  the 
shop  work  which  any  school  can  give  him,  and  has  enjoyed 
it  because  it  is  easy.'*  The  Yale  Alumni  Weekly r,  July  31, 
1902,  p.  433.  —  And  the  Electrical  World  said  recently  (Octo- 
ber 25)  in  the  article  "The  College  and  Business":  "In  our 
profession  such  doubts  are  settled  once  for  all  by  the  great 
electrical  companies  in  demanding  a  college  education  in 
those  who  cast  their  lot  with  them  for  technical  training." 


34°  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

hear  it  often  said :  Of  what  use  are  these  studies? 
Men  in  after  life  mostly  throw  aside  I^atin  and  Greek ; 
there  are  exceedingly  few  who  after  leaving  school 
take  a  classical  author  into  their  hands.  L,et  us  grant 
it.  But  does  it  not  follow,  then,  that  the  study  of 
mathematics  and  natural  sciences  is  equally  useless 
except  for  those  who  become  engineers  or  chemists  ? 
Or  who,  except  a  professional  mathematician,  ever  in 
after  life  looks  at  logarithms,  equations  and  the  like? 
But  there  are  many  instances  on  record  of  men  in 
prominent  positions  who  with  pleasure  returned  to 
the  classics,  which  they  had  learned  to  cherish  in 
college.  We  may  quote  one  instance  of  a  Jesuit 
pupil,  whose  name  is  indelibly  engraved  in  the  annals 
of  American  history,  we  refer  to  Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton.  Bishop  England  says  of  him  :  "I  have 
known  men  who,  during  protracted  lives,  found  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  classical  literature  that  relaxation 
which  improved,  whilst  it  relieved  the  mind.  The  last 
survivor  of  those  who  pledged  their  lives  and  fortunes, 
and  nobly  redeemed  their  sacred  honor  in  the  achieve- 
ment of  our  glorious  inheritance  of  liberty,  was  a 
striking  instance  of  this.  When  nearly  fourscore 
years  had  passed  away  from  the  period  of  his  closing 
the  usual  course  of  his  classical  education  —  after  the 
perils  of  a  revolution,  after  the  vicissitudes  of  party 
strife,  when  the  decay  of  his  faculties  warned  him  of 
the  near  approach  of  that  hour  when  he  should  render 
an  account  of  his  deeds  to  that  Judge  who  was  to 
decide  his  fate  for  eternity,  from  his  more  serious 
occupations  of  prayer  and  self-examination,  and  from 
the  important  concern  of  managing  and  dividing  his 
property,  would  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  turn 


CLASSICAL    STUDIKS.  341 

for  refreshment  to  those  classic  authors  with  whom  he 
had  been  familiar  through  life  :  —  his  soul  would  still 
feel  emotion  at  the  force  of  Tully's  eloquence,  or  melt 
at  Virgil's  pastoral  strain. "  l 

This  much  is  certain  from  what  has  been  said  so  far, 
that  the  advocates  of  * 'practical"  studies  indulge  in  a 
grave  delusion  when  they  object  to  the  classical  studies. 
Their  usefulness  even  for  a  commercial  and  political 
career  is  undeniable,  as  President  Stryker  of  Hamilton 
College  pointed  out  in  1901.  He  said,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  best  preparation  for  a  practical 
and  useful  life  is  in  the  high  development  of  the 
powers  of  the  mind,  and  that,  commonly,  by  a  culture 
that  is  not  considered  practical.  The  great  parliamen- 
tary orators  in  the  days  of  George  III.  were  remark- 
able for  the  intellectual  grasp  and  resource  they  dis- 
played in  the  entire  world  of  letters,  in  the  classics,  in 
ancient  and  modern  history.  Yet  all  of  them  owed 
their  development  to  a  strictly  classical  training  in  the 
schools.  And  most  of  them  had  not  only  the  gift  of 
imagination  necessary  to  great  eloquence,  but  also  had 
so  profited  by  the  mental  discipline  of  the  classics, 
that  they  handled  the  practical  questions  upon  which 
they  legislated  with  clearness  and  decision.  The 
great  masters  of  finance  were  the  classically  trained 
orators,  William  Pitt  and  Charles  James  Fox.  Such 
an  education  puts  no  premium  upon  haste,  nor  does  it 
discount  future  power  by  an  immature  substitution  of 
learning  for  training.  It  is  structural  towards  the 
whole  man,  and  seeks  to  issue  him,  not  "besmeared, 
but  bessemered. ' '  It  considers  the  capable  metal  more 

1     The  Works  of  Bishop  England,  vol.  V,  p.  35. 


342  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

than  the  commercial  false  edge.      Self-realization  is 
the  end. l 

The  testimonies  given  so  far  undoubtedly  outweigh 
the  contemptuous  charges  which  sometimes  are  hurled 
against  colleges  and  higher  education,  by  a  few  "self- 
made"  men,  who  boast  of  their  ignorance  and  proudly 
point  to  the  millions  which  they  were  able  to  amass 
without  any  liberal  education.  These  men  and  some 
other  worshippers  of  the  'golden  calf  frequently  ask : 
"Of  what  use  is  the  study  of  the  classics?  What  can 
I  do  with  Greek  ? ' '  We  have  heard  that  the  study  of 
the  classics  is  of  very  great  use,  also  for  practical  life, 
and  the  fact  that  a  few  have  become  rich  without 
them,  does  in  no  way  prove  against  their  usefulness. 
But  let  us  for  a  moment  entirely  abstract  from  the 
utilitarian  point  of  view  and  rise  to  higher  conceptions 
of  life.  Too  much  has  the  spirit  of  the  market  place 
invaded  the  field  of  education  ;  and  the  interests  of  a 
liberal  training  have  too  often  been  sacrificed  to  an 
insatiate  commercialism.  Is  the  highest  goal  of  in- 
tellectual and  social  life  nothing  but  the  rearing  of  a 
few  millionaires  ?  No,  there  must  be  a  higher  aim  of 
education,  for  the  nation  as  well  as  the  individual. 
A  nation  that  aims  at  nothing  but  industrial  and  com- 
mercial expansion,  neglecting  the  higher  ideals  of 
mankind,  may  flourish  for  a  time,  but  will  not  con- 
tribute much  to  real  civilization.  History  has  proved 
this.  Take  the  Carthaginians;  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time  they  held  the  commercial  supremacy 
among  the  nations.  Even  intellect  there  was  in  the 
service  of  capital.  The  economical  principles  of  a 
later  and  more  advanced  epoch  are  found  by  us  in 

1     See  Buffalo  Commercial,  June  29,  1901. 


CI^ASSICAI,   STUDIES.  343 

Carthage  alone  of  all  the  more  considerable  states  of 
antiquity.1  But  not  this  " nation  of  shop-keepers"  has 
civilized  the  world,  but  poor  Greece,  whose  culture, 
continued  into  the  literature  of  Rome,  together  with 
the  studies  which  it  involves,  has  been  the  instrument 
of  education,  and  the  food  of  civilization,  from  the  first 
times  of  the  world  down  to  this  day.2  May  we  not 
find  a  lesson  in  this  fact?  This  country  has  made 
marvellous  strides  in  industrial  and  commercial  enter- 
prise, but  should  it  not  aim  at  becoming  a  leader  in 
the  world  of  science,  literature  and  art?  In  order  to 
assume  this  leadership,  the  country  must  aim  at 
thoroughness  in  education,  and  at  solid,  productive 
scholarship.3  Now,  so  far  the  classical  studies  have 
proved  the  best  basis  of  thorough  education  and  solid 
scholarship,  and  doubtless  will  continue  to  do  so  in 
the  future.  The  inference  from  this  seems  to  be 
evident. 

Fortunately,  in  this  country,  a  reaction  seems  to 
have  set  in  against  the  realistic  tendency  of  our  secon- 
dary schools,  and  people  who  have  the  real  education 
of  the  nation  at  heart,  are  more  and  more  converted  to 
the  conviction  that  the  classical  studies  are  most  use- 
ful, if  not  necessary,  for  a  liberal  culture.  It  will  be 
interesting  to  hear  what  the  great  journalist,  Charles 
A.  Dana,  thought  of  the  relation  of  classical  studies 
to  journalism.  In  a  lecture  delivered  at  Union  Col- 
lege, Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  October  13,  1893,  he  said  : 
"Give  the  young  man  (who  is  entering  upon  journal- 
ism) a  first  class  course  of  general  education  :  and  if 

1  Mommsen,  History  of  Rome,  vol.  II,  ch.  1. 

2  Newman,  Idea  of  a  University. 

3  See  Professor  Miinsterberg's  article  in  the    Atlantic 
Monthly,  May  1901. 


344  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

I  could  have  my  own  way,  every  young  man  who  is 
going  to  be  a  newspaper  man,  and  who  is  not  ab- 
solutely rebellious  against  it,  should  learn  Greek  and 
Latin  after  the  good  old  fashion.  I  would  rather  take 
a  young  fellow  who  knows  the  Ajax  of  Sophocles, 
and  who  has  read  Tacitus,  and  who  can  scan  every 
Ode  of  Horace  —  I  would  take  him  to  report  a  prize- 
fight, or  a  spelling  match,  for  instance,  than  to  take 
one  who  has  never  had  these  advantages. ' ' l 

Professor  West  of  Princeton  University  stated  in 
1899  that  a  change  of  profound  significance  is  taking 
place  in  our  secondary  schools.2  This  change  is  an 
improvement,  but  in  reality  it  is  a  return  to  the  'old- 
fashioned'  classical  courses,  and  the  writer  aptly  styles 
it  a  'New  Revival.'  As  one  important  cause  of  the 
change  now  in  progress  he  assigns  dissatisfaction  with 
former  school  programmes  of  study.  There  were  too 
many  studies  crowded  into  the  programme.  In  other 
words,  American  opinion  is  moving  steadily,  and 
irresistibly,  toward  the  sound  elementary  and  elemen- 
tal conviction  that  the  best  thing  for  the  mass  of  pupils 
in  secondary  schools  is  a  programme  consisting  of  a 
few  well-related  studies  of  central  importance,  instead 
of  a  miscellany. 

Is  there  sufficient  evidence,  then,  that  this  ten- 
dency of  things  is  becoming  strongly  marked  among 
us?  Is  attention  being  more  and  more  concentrated 
on  a  few  well-related  leading  studies  which  have  been 
important  in  the  best  modern  education  ?  Let  us  see. 
Take  out  all  the  secondary  studies  for  which  statistics 
are  available  from  1889-90  to  1897-98  : 

1  Buffalo  Courier,  Oct.  16,  1893. 

2  Educational  Review,  1899,  October. 


STUDIES.  345 


Studies. 


1.  Latin 100,144  274,293  174 

2.  History  (except  U.  S.) 82,909  209,034  152 

3.  Geometry 59,781  147,515  147 

4.  Algebra 127,397  306,755  141 

5.  German 34,208  78,994  131 

6.  French  28,032  58,165  107 

7.  Greek 12,689  24,994  94 

8.  Physics > 63,644  113,650  79 

9.  Chemistry 28,665  47,448  65 

The  importance  of  the  figures  is  the  more  evident 
when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  rate  of  increase  in  the 
total  enrollment  of  pupils  from  297,894  in  1889-90  to 
554,814  in  1897-98  is  86  per  cent.  But  certain  studies 
are  growing  faster  than  this;  some  of  them  much 
faster.  Latin,  to  the  surprise  of  many r,  heads  the  list  with 
its  literally  enormous  gain  of  174  per  cent. ,  a  rate  fully 
double  the  86  per  cent,  which  represents  the  eight  year 
increase  in  the  total  number  of  pupils.  Next  comes 
history  with  152  per  cent.,  then  the  two  mathematical 
disciplines  (geometry  with  147  and  algebra  with  141), 
and  then  German  with  131.  After  these  we  find 
French  with  107,  and  Greek  with  94.  All  these  and 
only  these  exceed  the  average.  Physics  and  chemistry 
close  the  list  somewhat  below.  Prominent  educators 
all  the  world  over  hail  this  "new  revival"  as  one  of 
the  most  promising  signs  of  the  educational  movement 
in  America. 

The  foregoing  pages  contain  sufficient  proof  that 
the  Ratio  Studiorum  does  not  need  any  defence  for 
giving  such  prominence  to  the  study  of  the  classical 


346  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

languages,  especially  to  L,atin.  On  the  contrary,  it 
speaks  well  for  the  educational  wisdom  of  the  Jesuits 
that  for  about  a  century,  despite  the  sneers  of  many 
modern  school  reformers,  they  firmly  upheld  that 
method  to  which  the  more  prudent  educators  stead- 
fastly adhered,  and  to  which  others,  after  roaming 
about  far  and  wide,  now  wish  to  return. 

It  may  be  asked  why  the  study  of  the  classical 
languages  is  the  best  means  of  intellectual  training 
and  universal  culture.  The  reasons  are  manifold. 
The  first  is  the  very  fact  for  which  this  study  is  fre- 
quently attacked,  namely,  that  these  languages  are 
dead  languages.  "They  are  not  the  language  of  com- 
mon life.  They  are  not  picked  up  by  instinct  and 
without  reflection.  Everything  has  to  be  learned  by 
system,  rule,  and  formula.  The  relations  of  grammar 
and  logic  must  be  attended  to  with  deliberation. 
Thought  and  judgment  are  constantly  exercised  in 
assigning  the  exact  equivalents  of  the  mother  tongue 
for  every  phrase  of  the  original.  The  coincidence  of 
construction  is  too  little,  the  community  of  idiomatic 
thought  too  remote,  for  the  boy's  mind  to  catch  at  the 
idea,  by  force  of  that  preestablished  harmony  which 
exists  among  most  modern  tongues.  Only  the  law  of 
thought  and  logic  guides  him,  with  the  assistance  of 
a  teacher  to  lead  the  way,  and  reassure  his  struggling 
conception. ' ' 1 

This,  then,  is  the  first  point  of  the  study  of  the 
classical  languages:  logical  training,  training  that  leads 
to  correct  and  clear  thinking,  to  close  and  sharp 
reasoning.2  The  study  of  L,atin  is  better  adapted  to 

1  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  251. 

2  See  above,  pp.  333—339. 


CI^ASSICAI,  STUDIES.  347 

accomplish  this  effect  than  any  other  language ;  for, 
whereas  Greek  is  more  delicately  organized,  more 
beautiful  and  poetic,  the  Latin  is  perhaps  the  more 
systemically  elaborated  tongue.  In  its  severe  syntax 
it  participates  in  some  of  the  striking  qualities  of  the 
Roman  character,  which  seems  to  have  been  fitted  to 
legislate,  to  govern,  and  to  command,  as  the  great 
poet  has  it : 

"O  Rome,  'tis  thine  alone  with  awful  sway 
To  rule  mankind  and  make  the  world  obey."3 

The  study  of  Latin  requires  such  application  of 
various  rules  and  laws  that  it  forces  the  student  to 
the  closest  attention,  to  rigorous  mental  discipline. 
The  processes  of  reasoning  which  are,  at  least  im- 
plicitly, to  be  gone  through,  in  translating  an  English 
sentence  into  Latin,  are  ample  proof  of  this  statement. 
Suppose  a  pupil  has  to  render  the  following  sentence 
into  correct  Latin:  "As  soon  as  you  arrive  at  Phil- 
adelphia, give  him  the  letter,  to  prevent  him  from 
going  to  New  York."  He  will  probably  start:  As  soon 
as:  ubi  primum;  arrive  is  pervenire,  or  advenire.  Now 
what  tense?  Ubi  primum,  together  with  postquam, 
etc.,  is  construed  with  the  Perfect  Indicative.  But 
wait,  does  it  always  take  the  Perfect?  No,  only  when 
a  single  past  fact  is  related ;  is  this  the  case  here  ? 
That  depends  on  the  tense  of  the  verb  in  the  principal 
clause:  it  is  give.  What  tense?  It  is  properly  the 
present  tense,  but  has  reference  to  the  future.  There- 
fore, the  whole  clause  does  not  express  a  past  but  a 
future  fact.  In  English  arrive  is  present  tense,  but 
in  Latin  the  use  of  tenses  is  much  more  accurate ;  if 
the  action  of  principal  and  dependent  clauses  are  both 

3    Virgil's  Aeneid,  VI. 


348  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

future,  they  must  be  expressed  by  a  future  tense.  Now 
arrive  has  a  future  meaning  ;  therefore  a  future  tense. 
But  which  of  the  two  ?  First  or  second  ?  That  depends 
on  the  nature  of  the  action ;  if  the  verb  of  the  depen- 
dent clause  denotes  an  action  antecedent  to  that  of  the 
principal  clause,  it  must  be  put  in  the  tense  which 
denotes  antecedence.  Now,  let  us  see :  the  arriving 
at  Philadelphia  necessarily  antecedes  the  giving  of  the 
letter;  consequently  I  have  to  use  the  second  future, 
the  futurum  exactum :  ubi  primum  —  venioy  Perfect  veni 
—  well:  perveneris.  At  Philadelphia;  at  is  in;  how- 
ever, names  of  cities  are  construed  without  a  preposi- 
tion, they  are  used  in  the  locativus,  which  in  singular 
nouns  of  the  ist  and  2nd  declensions  is  like  the  Geni- 
tive case,  therefore  Philadelphiae.  But  is  there  not  a 
rule  about  advenire,  pervenire,  congregari,  etc.  ?  They 
mean  going  towards,  into,  therefore  I  must  use  the 
construction  answering  the  question  :  whither,  there- 
fore Philadelphiam.  Very  well.  Now :  give  him  the 
letter;  give:  trade,  da;  him:  eum,  but  stop  —  eum  is 
direct  object,  while  in  the  given  sentence  him  is  in- 
direct, so  it  must  be  ei,  trade  ei  epistolam. — To  prevent, 
is  the  infinitive,  here  it  expresses  a  purpose.  Clauses 
denoting  purpose  are  not  expressed  by  the  infinitive  in 
L,atin  prose,  but  by  ut,  causa  with  the  gen.  of  the 
Gerund,  or  ad  with  the  accusative,  etc.;  take  ut:  but 
attend  to  the  sequence  of  tenses! — impedias  eum; 
from  going  :  a  proficiscendo  ?  No  !  but :  quominus  or 
ne  proficiscatur.  To  New  York  —  Neo  -  Eboraco  ?  — 
Very  often  pupils  use  the  Dative,  not  having  been 
instructed  from  the  beginning  about  the  difference  of 
to,  meaning  towards,  into,  and  to,  meaning  for  the 
benefit,  in  the  interest  of;  here  Neo-Eboracum.  Now  the 


CLASSICAL   STUDIES.  349 

sentence  is  complete :  Ubi  primum  Philadelphiam  ad- 
venerisj  epistolam  ei  trade  ut  impedias  eum,  quominus 
Neo-Eboracum  proficiscatur. 

Is  it  not  surprising  how  much  intellectual  labor  is 
spent,  and  well  spent,  in  translating  that  little  sen- 
tence?1 How  many  syllogisms  were  formed,  or  are 
at  least  implied?  Pere  Pabri,  a  French  Jesuit  teacher, 
wrote  in  1669:  "Besides  literary  accomplishments 
gained  from  the  study  of  the  classical  languages  there 
are  other  advantages  to  be  derived,  especially  an  ex- 
quisite power  and  facility  of  reasoning.  For  in  the 
writing  of  verses,  in  the  examination  of  words  and 
contents,  a  constant  analysis  and  combination  is  re- 
quired which  helps  the  mind  wonderfully  to  sound 
reasoning/*2  Indeed,  the  study  of  these  languages 
is  a  course  of  applied  logic.  Immanent  logic  has  been 
called  the  characteristic  of  the  Latin  language  and  its 
grammar.3  "Latin  grammar,"  says  Dr.  Karl  Hilde- 
brand,  "is  a  course  of  logic  presented  in  an  almost 
tangible  form.  L,et  us  only  remember  how  an  idea 
so  abstract  as  that  of  subject  and  object  is  rendered 
palpable  by  the  s  and  m."  We  said,  the  labor  was 
well  spent.  For,  a  student  who  has  thus  been  trained 
will  acquire  the  habit  of  clear  thinking.  When  a 
doctor,  he  will  in  a  given  case  reason  similarly,  though 
not  in  that  cumbrous  form,  but  pass  in  a  moment, 
unconsciously,  because  from  habit,  through  various 
syllogisms,  and  examine  whether  this  or  that  remedy 
will  have  the  desired  effect.  A  patient  should  natur- 

1  Professor  Bennett,  in  his  Teaching  Latin  in  the  Second- 
ary School,  pp.  12—22,  points  out  the  mental  processes  to  be 
gone  through  in  translating  from  the  Latin  into  English. 

2  Euphyander,  p.  157;  Chossat,  /.  c.y  295. 
8    Willmann,  Didaklik,  vol.  II,  115. 


350  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ally  have  much  more  confidence  in  such  a  doctor, 
than  in  one  who  has  not  had  the  advantage  of  the  same 
logical  training.  The  results  will  be  similar  in  the 
case  of  a  lawyer,  a  politician,  a  business  man,  a  writer. 
The  father  in  the  fable  told  his  sons  that  there  was  a 
treasure  hidden  in  his  vineyard.  They  began  to  dig 
the  vineyard  once,  twice,  and  oftener,  in  the  hope  of 
finding  the  treasure.  No  chests  of  gold,  no  bags  filled 
with  good  coin,  appeared ;  but  in  the  following  year 
the  vineyard  yielded  irnmeasurabty  more  than  ever 
before.  Here  was  the  treasure  the  wise  father  meant 
them  to  seek  after.  The  same  holds  good  in  educa- 
tion. The  man  in  later  life  may  never  again  use  his 
Latin  or  Greek,  still  the  study  of  these  languages  has 
turned  up  the  soil  in  the  field  of  his  intellect,  fertilized 
it,  and  if  now  it  yields  a  rich  harvest,  the  result  is  to 
a  great  extent  due  to  that  patient  digging,  although 
he  himself  may  not,  and  in  most  cases  does  not,  realize 
to  what  source  his  success  in  life  is  to  be  ascribed. 

But  the  logical  training  acquired  by  translating 
from  or  into  the  ancient  languages,  although  a  most 
important  result,  is  by  no  means  the  only  benefit  of 
the  study  of  those  languages.  There  is,  besides  this 
formal  side,  the  historical.  The  Latin  and  Greek 
literatures  present  to  us  at  first  hand  all  the  great 
masterpieces  of  antiquity,  which  have  inspired  directly 
or  indirectly  most  of  what  is  really  great  and  noble  in 
modern  literature.  Most  deservedly,  therefore,  have 
the  classical  studies  been  styled  the  ABC  of  all  higher 
studies. 1  Latin  especially  is,  as  Professor  Paulsen 
styles  it,  *  'the  gate  to  the  great  historical  world.  No 

1  Verhandlungen .  {Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Con- 
ference zSoo.)  See  Duhr,  p.  91. 


CLASSICAL,    STUDIES.  351 

one  who  wishes  to  move  in  wider  circles  of  historical 
life  can  do  without  L,atin."  For  similar  reasons 
Director  Jager  maintained  the  necessity  of  classical 
lore  for  the  man  who  wishes  to  possess  a  title  to  real 
scientific  preparation  for  higher  studies.  In  the  last 
Berlin  Conference  on  higher  education,  1900,  there 
was  probably  no  point  so  strongly  insisted  on  as  the 
necessity  of  Latin  for  all  men  who  lay  any  claim  to 
culture.  Professor  Harnack  claimed  that  the  human- 
istic training  seemed  to  him  especially  necessary  for 
all  who  had  any  great  influence  on  their  fellow-men 
and  on  the  social  and  political  life  of  a  nation. l 
Arnold  had  expressed  a  similar  opinion  when  he  said: 
" Expel  Greek  and  I^atin  from  your  schools,  and  you 
confine  the  views  of  the  existing  generation  to  them- 
selves and  their  immediate  predecessors,  you  will  cut 
off  so  many  centuries  of  the  world's  experience,  and 
place  us  in  the  same  state  as  if  the  human  race  had 
first  come  into  existence  in  the  year  1500." 2 

There  is,  in  the  third  place,  what  we  may  call 
the  literary  and  aesthetic  momentum.  When  through 
means  of  grammatical  studies  the -pupil  is  sufficiently 
prepared,  he  begins  to  read  the  greatest  masterpieces  of 
literature.  Gradually  he  becomes  intimately  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  maturest  minds  of  all  ages,  pro- 
vided the  teaching  is  carried  on  in  the  proper  form, 
i.  e.  if  the  authors  are  read  not  to  furnish  merely 
material  for  grammatical  drill,  but  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  contents  of  the  authors  form  the  central  part 
of  the  whole  instruction,  that  the  author  begins  to 
live,  that  the  persons  seem  to  act  and  speak  before  the 

1  Verhandlungen,  1900,  p.  17. 

2  Fitch,   Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  35. 


35 2  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

eye  of  the  student.  He  is  thus  introduced  to  one 
great  author  after  another.  First  comes  Caesar,  whose 
plain  but  vigorous  style  is  the  true  image  of  the  great 
Roman  general  and  statesman,  who  changed  the 
greatest  of  republics  into  an  Empire.  Then  appears 
Xenophon  with  his  lifelike  descriptions ;  L,ivy  with 
his  eloquent  history  of  Rome,  full  of  ardent  patriotism; 
then  Cicero,  the  most  gifted  and  versatile  of  all  the 
Romans,  with  his  brilliant  style,  his  sparkling  wit,  his 
cutting  irony  and  stern  denunciation  of  corruption. 
Then  the  student  admires  Ovid's  elegant  verses, 
Virgil's  grand  and  stately  lines,  Horace's  refined  and 
tasteful  stanzas.  Then  rises  before  him  the  great 
philosopher  Plato,  who  portrays  in  fascinating  dia- 
logues the  wise  man  of  heathen  antiquity,  Socrates. 
If  properly  taught,  but  then  only,  the  student  is  sure, 
after  the  struggle  of  a  few  months,  to  form  an  intimate 
friendship  with  the  'Father  of  Poetry',  immortal 
Homer.  He  will  soon  realize  the  greatness  of  the 
blind  old  man,  who  lived  in  the  mouths  of  a  hundred 
generations  and  a  thousand  tribes ;  who,  as  Cardinal 
Newman  says,  "may  be  called  the  first  apostle  of 
civilization ; ' '  whose  Odyssey  and  Iliad  formed  a 
source  of  purest  enjoyment  to  many  of  the  greatest 
men  of  history:  to  Alexander  the  Great,  Napoleon, 
Newman,  Gladstone,  and  countless  others.  We  could 
continue  and  mention  the  powerful  harangues  of  the 
prince  of  orators,  Demosthenes,  the  grand  and  soul- 
stirring  tragedies  of  Aeschylus  and  Sophocles.  But 
we  have  enumerated  enough  to  show  what  wealth  and 
variety  of  intellectual  food  is  placed  before  the  classical 
student  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  By  these  studies 
his  aesthetical  sense  is  developed,  he  acquires  imper- 
ceptibly that  precious  gift,  which  we  call  taste. 


CLASSICAL,  STUDIES.  353 

Sometimes  we  hear  it  said  that  a  good  translation 
of  these  Greek  authors  would  give  us  all  the  advan- 
tages we  may  derive  from  the  study  of  the  original. 
Any  one  acquainted  with  classical  literature  knows 
what  to  think  of  this  assertion.  Translations  are,  at 
the  best,  what  the  reproduction  of  a  grammophone  is 
compared  to  the  original  concert  or  solo.  Father 
Jouvancy  has  well  observed  :  "Translations  of  Greek 
authors,  even  if  they  are  accurate,  seldom  render  the 
force,  beauty,  and  other  striking  qualities  of  the  orig- 
inal. It  is  always  better  to  draw  drinking  water  from 
the  source ;  the  further  it  runs  from  the  source,  the 
more  it  is  contaminated,  and  the  more  it  loses  its 
original  taste. ' ' l 

This  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  judgment  of  many 
modern  writers.  Thus  Sterne  says:  "The  most  ex- 
cellent profane  authors,  whether  Greek  or  I,atin,  lose 
most  of  their  graces  whenever  we  find  them  literally 
translated.  In  the  classical  authors,  the  expressions, 
the  sweetness  of  numbers,  occasioned  by  a  musical 
placing  of  words,  constitute  a  great  part  of  their 
beauties."2  Mr.  Genung,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in 
Amherst  College,  speaks  thus  of  the  "Untranslatable" 
in  literature  :  "In  all  the  higher  achievements  of  lit- 
erature there  must  necessarily  remain  a  great  deal 
that,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  skill,  cannot  be  adequately 
reproduced  in  another  language.  The  thought  may 
indeed  survive,  though  marred  and  mutilated,  but  the 
subtle  spiritual  aroma,  the  emotional  essence  perishes 
in  the  transmission.  This  is  preeminently  true  of 

1  Ratio  Discendi,  cli.  I,  art.  I. 

2  Quoted  by  Cardinal  Newman  in  his  Idea  of  a  Univer- 
sity, p.  271. 

23 


354  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

poetry.  George  Henry  Lewes,  in  his  Life  of  Goethe, 
says:  'In  its  happiest  efforts,  translation  is  but  ap- 
proximation; and  its  efforts  are  not  often  happy. 
A  translation  may  be  good  as  translation,  but  it  cannot 
be  an  adequate  reproduction  of  the  original. '  ' ' l  To 
single  out  one  instance :  there  exist  numerous  trans- 
lations of  Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  in  prose  and 
verse.  And  yet,  any  one  familiar  with  the  most  im- 
portant poetical  monument  existing2  can  trace  but  few 
remains  of  the  graces  which  charmed  him  in  the 
original.  Cowper  and  Wright  have  failed  in  render- 
ing Homer's  rapidity;  Pope  and  Sotheby  have  failed 
in  rendering  his  plainness  and  directness  of  style  and 
diction;  Chapman  has  failed  in  rendering  his  plain- 
ness and  directness  of  ideas ;  and  for  want  of  appre- 
ciating Homer's  nobleness,  Newman  has  failed 
more  conspicuously  than  any  of  his  predecessors. 
Some  passages  of  Pope's  translation  exhibit  the  trata- 
lator's  prodigious  talent.  But  as  Bentley  said  :  "You 
must  not  call  it  Homer."  Chapman's  translation  is 
praised  by  Coleridge,  who,  however,  is  forced  to  add: 
1 '  It  will  give  you  a  small  idea  of  Homer. ' '  Dr. 
Maginn's  Homeric  Ballads  are  vigorous  poems  in  their 
own  way,  but  as  a  Homeric  translation  very  often 
nothing  more  than  a  travesty.3  Similar  objections 
may  be  raised  against  any  of  the  other  translations  of 
classical  poems. 

A  fourth  advantage  which  the  classical  studies 
possess  over  mathematics  and  natural  sciences,  con- 
sists in  the  moral  or  ethical  element,  in  the  many 
examples  they  present  of  the  natural  virtues,  examples 

1  Practical  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  320. 

2  Matthew  Arnold :  On  Translating  Homer. 

3  Arnold,  /.  c. 


CLASSICAL  STUDIES.  355 

of  heroic  patriotism,  of  filial  devotion,  and  dutiful- 
ness.  The  example  of  Socrates,  dying  in  obedience 
to  what  he  considers  the  voice  of  God,  of  chaste  Pen- 
elope, of  faithful  Eumaeus,  and  of  many  other  char- 
acters depicted  so  vividly  and  graphically  with  the 
inimitable  simplicity  and  skill  of  the  ancient  writers, 
cannot  fail  to  produce  an  elevating,  ennobling  and 
purifying  effect  on  the  hearts  of  the  young;  these 
examples  show  us  that  the  sense  of  moral  beauty  was 
left  in  mankind  even  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness  and 
corruption  of  paganism.  What  have  the  other 
branches  of  study,  mathematics  and  natural  sciences, 
to  offer  that  could  be  compared  to  this  ?  Mathematics 
is  an  excellent  means  of  developing  logical  thinking, 
but  there  its  efficiency  stops,  it  has,  as  professors  of 
mathematics  have  said,  "a  narrow  range  of  thoughts 
and  ideas/'  It  certainly  does  not  inspire,  does  not 
^levate.  Or  whose  heart  has  ever  become  warmed  or 
ennobled  by  fully  grasping  the  Pythagorean  system, 
or  by  developing  (a+fr)3  or  any  other  algebraic  for- 
mula? Whose  aesthetic  or  moral  sense  has  been 
refined  by  analyzing  FeS+H2SO4  =  FeSO*+H2S,  or 
other  chemical  equations  ?  Mathematics  and  natural 
sciences  are  justly  called  by  the  Germans  Realfdcher; 
they  impart  practical,  useful  knowledge,  but  not  ideal, 
not  liberal  culture.  Newman  has  well  expressed  this 
difference  :  "When  an  idea,  whether  it  is  real  or  not, 
is  of  a  nature  to  interest  and  possess  the  mind,  it  is 
said  to  have  life,  that  is,  to  live  in  the  mind  which  is 
the  recipient  of  it.  Thus  mathematical  ideas,  real  as 
they  are,  cannot  be  called  living,  for  they  have  no  in- 
fluence and  lead  to  nothing. ' ' *•  The  same  applies 

1    Newman,  Development  of  Christian  Doctrine,  cli.  1. 


356  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

more  or  less  to  the  natural  sciences,  whereas  the  very 
opposite  holds  good  of  the  study  of  literature  and 
history. 

In  the  fifth  place  we  mention  the  gain  classical 
studies  yield  to  the  mother- tongue.  This  is  very  im- 
portant for  a  thorough  and  scholarly  understanding  of 
the  English  language,  as  two  thirds  or  more  of  the 
English  vocabulary  are  words  derived  from  Latin. 
But  the  principal  gain  in  knowledge  of  the  mother- 
tongue  is  derived  from  careful,  idiomatic  translations 
into  the  vernacular.  If  translations  are  made  regularly 
and  accurately,  there  is  little  need  of  giving  special 
instructions  on  English  grammar  and  style.  In  the 
Berlin  Conference  of  1890  some  of  the  leading  men, 
among  them  Professor  Helmholtz,  emphasized  this 
point,  saying  that  "good  and  idiomatic  translations 
are  an  instruction  in  the  German  language,  which 
cannot  be  appreciated  highly  enough. ' ' :  The  great 
Prussian  schoolman  Dr.  Wiese  had  long  before  ex- 
pressed himself  to  the  same  effect,  referring  to  the 
example  of  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  who  saw  in  good 
translation  the  best  preparation  for  writing  excellent 
English.  "Whenever  it  is  attended  to,"  says  Dr. 
Arnold,  "it  [translation]  is  an  exercise  of  exceeding 
value ;  it  is  in  fact  one  of  the  best  modes  of  instruction 
in  English  composition,  because  the  constant  com- 
parison with  the  different  idioms  of  the  languages, 
from  which  you  are  translating,  shows  you  in  the  most 
lively  manner  the  peculiar  excellence  and  defects  of 
your  own."2  In  another  passage  he  writes  :  "Every 
lesson  in  L,atin  and  Greek  may,  or  ought  to  be  made 

1  Transactions;  see  Duhr,  p.  117. 

2  Stanley,  Life  of  Arnold,  vol.  II,  p.   112 ;   and  Fitch, 
Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  44. 


CI.ASSICAI,  STUDIES.  357 

a  lesson  in  English  ;  the  translation  of  every  sentence 
in  Demosthenes  or  Tacitus  is  properly  an  exercise  in 
extemporaneous  English  composition  ;  a  problem  how 
to  express  with  equal  brevity,  clearness  and  force  in 
our  own  language  the  thought  which  the  original 
author  has  so  admirably  expressed  in  his."  "The 
practice  of  translating,"  says  James  Russell  lyowell, 
1  'by  making  us  deliberate  in  the  choice  of  the  best 
equivalent  of  the  foreign  word  in  our  own  language, 
has  likewise  the  advantage  of  schooling  us  in  one  of 
the  main  elements  of  a  good  style  —  precision. ' ' 1 
*  'The  old  theory  is  now  reviving  that  the  teaching  of 
English  in  the  modern  fashion  is  of  little  value,  and  that 
the  old  method  of  teaching  L,atin  grammar,  and  allow- 
ing English  to  take  care  of  itself,  is  really  sounder  and 
more  practical. ' '  2 

Similar  are  the  words  of  a  prominent  schoolman  of 
this  country,  Mr.  Nightingale,  Superintendent  of 
High  Schools,  Chicago.  In  the  Report  of  the  Con- 
ference on  English,  read  before  the  National  Association 
of  Education  at  Ashbury  Park,  N.  J.,  1894,  he  says: 
"I  would  have  children  at  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven 
years  commence  the  study  of  that  language  which  in 
the  fields  of  persuasion  and  philosophy,  of  literature 
and  law,  is  so  largely  the  progenitor  of  the  English  — 
the  incomparable  I^atin.  If  we  would  be  strong  we 
must  contend  with  something  —  resist  something  — 
conquer  something.  We  cannot  gain  muscle  on  a  bed 
of  eiderdown.  Toying  with  straws  will  only  enervate 

1  Democracy  and  Other  Addresses,    p.  126;   quoted  by 
Geninig,  Practical  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  320. 

2  Professor  Mahaffy,  Irish  Endowed  School  Commission 
Report,  p.  244, 


358  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  faculties.  The  blacksmith's  arm  becomes  mighty 
through  his  ponderous  strokes  of  the  hammer  on  the 
anvil.  The  very  facility  of  the  acquisition  of  the 
modern  languages  precludes  the  possibility  of  dis- 
cipline. Put  L,atin  into  our  common  schools,  and  the 
puzzling  problem  of  English  Grammar  will  be  nearing 
its  solution,  for  the  why  that  meets  the  pupil  at  every 
step,  the  very  laboriousness  and  difficulty  of  the  task, 
will  open  the  intellect,  develop  the  powers  of  dis- 
crimination and  adaptation,  enlarge  the  vocabulary, 
enable  the  student  to  write  a  better  English  essay,  use 
a  more  terse  and  trenchant  style  of  speech,  and  grasp 
with  more  avidity  and  keenness  any  promulgated  form 
of  thought,  than  if  he  should  spend  quintuple  the  time 
on  the  study  of  the  English  Grammar  alone. ' ' 

Is  it  not  significant  that  nearly  all  the  great  English 
writers  and  orators  were  ardent  admirers  and  students 
of  the  classical  languages?  A  Pope,  a  Dryden,  an 
Addison,  a  Milton,  a  Burke,  a  Pitt,  a  Tennyson  and 
a  Newman,  and  others?  The  younger  Pitt  gives 
a  student  the  following  advice  :  "The  practice  of  ren- 
dering the  Greek  and  Roman  classics  into  English, 
and  of  committing  to  memory  the  most  eloquent  pas- 
sages which  occur  in  reading,  is  the  best  exercise  in 
which  the  young  student  can  engage.  It  imparts  a 
command  of  language,  aids  him  in  acquiring  a  forcible 
style,  affords  the  best  mental  discipline,  strengthens 
the  memory,  cultivates  his  taste,  invigorates  his  in- 
tellect, and  gives  him  a  relish  for  the  sublime  and 
beautiful  in  writing/'  Further,  the  whole  of  English 
literature  is  so  saturated  with  classical  allusions,  that 
without  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  more  important  works 
of  Greek  and  Roman  writers,  it  is  impossible  to  ap- 


CI,ASSICAI,   STUDIES.  359 

preciate  fully,  or  even  to  understand  the  finest  produc- 
tions of  English  literature.  This  being  the  case,  we 
have  another  proof  that  our  modern  pedagogists,  by 
exaggerating  the  claims  of  the  natural  sciences  beyond 
all  reasonable  bounds,  are  doing  great  harm  to  litera- 
ture and  liberal  culture. 

Having  reviewed  the  various  advantages  which  the 
study  of  the  classics  affords,  we  may  well  say  with  one 
of  the  greatest  minds  of  the  nineteenth  century : 
Modern  methods  and  sciences,  and  '  'their  inestimable 
services  in  the  interest  of  our  material  well-being,  have 
dazzled  the  imaginations  of  men,  and  since  they  do 
wonders  in  their  own  province,  it  is  not  unfrequently 
supposed  that  they  can  do  as  much  in  any  other  prov- 
ince also.  But  to  advance  the  useful  arts  is  one 
thing,  and  to  cultivate  the  mind  another.  The  simple 
question  to  be  considered  is  how  best  to  strengthen, 
refine,  and  enrich  the  intellectual  powers ;  the  perusal 
of  the  poets,  historians  and  philosophers  of  Greece 
and  Rome  will  accomplish  this  purpose,  as  long 
experience  has  shown ;  but  that  the  study  of  experi- 
mental sciences  will  do  the  like,  is  proved  to  us  as  yet 
by  no  experience  whatever.  Far  indeed  am  I  from 
denying  the  extreme  attractiveness,  as  well  as  the 
practical  benefit  to  the  world  at  large,  of  the  sciences 
of  chemistry,  electricity,  and  geology;  but  the  question 
is  not  what  department  of  study  contains  the  more 
wonderful  facts,  or  promises  the  more  brilliant  dis- 
coveries, and  which  is  in  the  higher  and  which  is  in 
the  inferior  rank  ;  but  simply  which  out  of  all  provides 
the  most  robust  and  invigorating  discipline  for  the  un- 
formed mind.  .  .  .  Whatever  be  the  splendors  of  the 
modern  philosophy,  the  marvelldusness  of  its  dis- 


360  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

closures,  the  utility  of  its  acquisitions,  and  the  talents 
of  its  masters,  still  it  will  not  avail  in  the  event,  to 
detrude  classical  literature  and  the  studies  connected 
with  it  from  the  place  which  they  have  held  in  all 
ages  in  education."  1  Goethe,  realizing  what  debt  he 
himself  owed  to  the  classics,  exclaimed  :  "Would  that 
the  study  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature  forever  re- 
mained the  basis  of  higher  education."2 

These  are  the  reasons  why  the  Society  of  Jesus 
always  gave  such  prominence  to  classical  studies. 
She  considers  them  to  be  among  the  "few  well-related 
studies  of  central  importance ; " 3  to  them  she  would 
apply  the  words  of  Dr.  Stanley  Hall,  quoted  before : 
"Only  great,  concentrated  and  prolonged  efforts  in  one 
direction  really  train  the  mind. ' '  The  mind  can  never 
be  trained  by  that  miscellany  of  studies  crowded  into 
the  programme  of  our  modern  systems.  Their  effects 
on  youth  were  ably  pointed  out  seventy  years  ago  by 
the  General  of  the  Society,  Father  Roothaan.4  "In 
the  lower  schools  [he  means  grammar  schools  and 
colleges],  the  object  kept  in  view  is  to  have  boys  learn 
as  many  things  as  possible,  and  learn  them  in  the 
shortest  time  and  with  the  least  exertion  possible. 
Excellent !  But  that  variety  of  so  many  things  and 
so  many  courses,  all  barely  tasted  by  youth,  enables 
them  to  conceive  a  high  opinion  of  how  much  they 
know,  and  sometimes  swells  the  crowd  of  the  half 
instructed,  the  most  pernicious  of  all  classes  to  the 
sciences  and  the  State  alike.  As  to  knowing  anything 

1  Cardinal  Newinau,  Idea  of  a  University,  p.  263. 

2  Spruche  in  Prosa. 

3  See  page  344. 

4  Letter  of  1832.     Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  290. 


CLASSICAL    STUDIES.  361 

truly  and  solidly,  there  is  none  of  it.  Ex  omnibus  ali- 
quid,  in  toto  nihil:  Something  of  everything,  nothing 
in  the  end.  In  the  method  of  conducting  the  lower 
studies,  some  accessory  branches  should  have  time 
provided  for  them,  especially  the  vernacular  tongues 
and  literatures.  But  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek 
must  always  remain  intact  and  be  the  chief  object  of 
attention.  As  they  have  always  been  the  principal 
sources  of  exhibiting  the  most  perfect  models  of  liter- 
ary beauty  in  precept  and  style,  so  are  they  still." 

Here  it  is  necessary  to  meet  some  objections  to 
the  Jesuit  system.  It  is  said  that,  however  much  the 
Jesuits  insisted  on  the  classical  studies,  they  directed 
them  to  a  wrong  end.  They  aimed  only  at  "formation 
of  style."  "To  write  in  Latin  is  the  ideal  they  pro- 
pose to  their  pupils.  .  .  They  direct  the  pupil's  atten- 
tion, not  to  the  thoughts,  but  to  the  elegancies  of 
language,  to  the  elocutionary  effort ;  in  a  word,  to  the 
form."  Thus  M.  Cornpayre.1  Mr.  Painter  tells  us 
even  that  the  Jesuits'  "plan"  says:  "The  study  of 
classic  authors  can  have  for  us  only  a  secondary  end, 
namely,  to  form  the  style,  we  wish  nothing  else.  Style 
will  be  formed  essentially  after  Cicero. ' ' 2  What  answer 
can  be  given  to  this  serious  charge  ?  The  answer  is 
a  very  simple  one:  the  first  sentence  of  Mr.  Painter's 
quotation  is  untrue.  That  statement  of  his  is  nowhere 
contained  in  the  whole  Ratio,  neither  literally  nor 
equivalently.3  The  Ratio  and  its  commentator  Jou- 

1    History  of  Pedagogy,  p.  144. 

!    History  of  Education,  p.  169. 

3  I  do  not  wish  to  imply  that  Mr.  Painter  has  consciously 
committed  this  blunder.  I  suspect  it  is  based  on  an  entirely 
false  translation  of  the  first  Rule  for  the  Professor  of  Rhetoric, 
which  says  that  I^atin  style  should  be  modeled  chiefly  after 
Cicero. 


362  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

vancy  state  expressly  that  various  things  are  to  be 
considered  in  these  studies :  knowledge  of  language, 
of  grammar,  of  syntax,  precepts  of  rhetoric,  style,  and 
varied  erudition.1  Jouvancy,  in  the  schemata  for  ex- 
plaining the  authors,  has  five  or  six  points,  the  first  is 
always  the  interpretation  of  the  meaning,  the  contents, 
the  linguistic  and  logical  explanation  ;  then  rhetorical 
or  poetical  precepts,  then  general  erudition,  and  lastly 
L,atinity. 2  This  proves  how  untrustworthy  are  the 
quotations  of  Mr.  Painter  and  of  other  critics  of 
the  Ratio.  The  perusal  of  the  commentary  of  Jou- 
vancy refutes  also  in  general  the  charge  of  "mere 
formalism."  However,  if  by  "formal"  is  meant  the 
general  linguistic  training,3  the  Society  has  always 
laid  great  stress  on  it.  Many  scholars  begin  to 
deplore  the  fact  that  this  "formal"  training  is  being 
neglected  too  much  in  the  new  schools.  ".The  great 
linguistic  and  logical  training  which  results  from  solid 
and  properly  conducted  instruction  in  grammar,  espe- 
cially in  another  language,  particularly  in  L,atin  and 
Greek,  has  of  late  been  undervalued  —  the  nemesis  for 
it  has  come  already. ' ' 4 

It  is  true  that  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  the  Jesuits  did  not  enter  as  fully  into  the  ex- 
planation of  the  contents  as  is  demanded  at  present. 
But  who  can  blame  them  for  this  ?  It  is  true  also  that 

1  See  below   chapter  XVI,  also  Reg.  Prof.  Rhet.  I.  - 
Reg.  Hum.  /.,  etc. 

2  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  II,  art.  4.     See  below  ch.  XVI,  §  1. 

3  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  term  "formal"  in  many 
letters  of  the  Generals,  as  in  that  of  Father  Beckx  quoted  by 
M.  Cotupayre,  page  145,  where  this  author  misinterprets  the 
phrase  "pure  form". 

4  Dr.  Hirzel,  in  Neue  Jahrbilcher,  1902,  vol.  X,  p.  53. 


CLASSICAL   STUDIES.  363 

they  insisted  very  much  on  speaking  and  writing 
Latin,  much  more  than  is  advisable  in  our  days.  But 
so  did  the  Protestant  schools.1  For  this  mastery  of 
Latin  was  at  that  time  of  foremost  practical  importance, 
as  Latin  was  the  universal  language  of  Western 
Christendom,  the  language  of  law  and  science,  and  the 
necessary  organ  of  international  intercourse.  As  it 
was  necessary,  therefore,  to  teach  Latin  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  enable  the  pupils  to  write  it,  the  Jesuits 
endeavored  to  do  this  as  well  as  possible ;  hence  they 
insisted  much  on  a  good  Latin  style,  and  imitated  most 
of  all  that  of  Cicero,  a  choice  which  only  some  radical 
critics  of  the  school  of  Mommsen  can  condemn.  If 
even  at  present  the  writing  and  speaking  of  Latin  is 
one  of  the  exercises  in  the  Jesuit  schools,  it  is  not  for 
the  same  practical  purpose  as  formerly,  but  these  ex- 
ercises are  directed  towards  the  logical  training  of  the 
mind.  Besides,  much  less  time  is  devoted  to  these 
exercises  now  than  heretofore.  —  That  the  writing  and 
speaking  of  Latin  was  never  the  only  object  of  teach- 
ing this  language,  is  proved  from  the  manner  in  which 
the  authors  were  explained ;  it  is  also  sufficiently  clear 
from  the  fact  that  Greek  was  always  taught  in  the 
Jesuit  schools,  certainly  not  for  the  practical  purpose 
of  speaking  it,  but  for  purposes  of  general  training. 
One  of  these  purposes  was  to  acquaint  the  pupils  with 
the  classical  writers,  with  their  thoughts  and  ideas. 

But  here  M.  Cornpayre  has  discovered  another 
defect  in  the  Jesuit  system.  '  'It  is  to  be  noted,  besides, 
that  the  Jesuits  put  scarcely  more  into  the  hands  of 
their  pupils  than  select  extracts,  expurgated  editions. 

1  See  Paulsen,  Gesch.  des  gel.  Unt.,  vol.  I,  p.  352  and 
passim. 


364  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

They  wish  in  some  sort  to  efface  from  the  ancient 
books  whatever  marks  the  epoch  and  characterizes  the 
time.  They  detach  fine  passages  of  eloquence  and 
beautiful  extracts  of  poetry,  but  they  are  afraid,  it 
seems,  of  the  authors  themselves ;  they  fear  lest  the 
pupils  find  in  them  the  old  human  spirit — the  spirit  of 
nature."1  There  are  several  fallacies  in  this  asser- 
tion. First  of  all  the  terms  '  'select  extracts"  and 
''expurgated  editions"  apparently  are  used  by  M. 
Compayre  as  synonymous ;  but  this  is  not  correct. 
An  expurgated  edition,  v.  g.  of  the  Iliad,  the  Odyssey, 
the  Aeneid,  gives  the  whole  work  with  the  omission 
of  but  a  few  objectionable  passages.  Such  editions 
are  certainly  not  to  be  called  select  extracts  from  these 
authors.  The  Jesuits  used  to  read  select  extracts  from 
some  authors,  whose  works  are  of  such  a  character  as 
to  make  it  impossible  to  read  them  entire,  as  Juvenal, 
Tibullus,  Catullus,  etc.  But  they  read  the  great 
works,  the  Odyssey,  the  Iliad,  the  Aeneid,  some  of 
Plato's  Dialogues,  the  works  of  Cicero,  etc.,  in  expur- 
gated editions  in  which  only  a  few  indecent  passages 
were  left  out.  These  editions  did  not  efface  what 
characterized  the  time,  or  marked  the  spirit  of  the 
authors.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  have  been  directly 
against  the  principles  of  the  Jesuits  to  suppress  all 
this.  For,  whereas  the  Protestant  Reformers  and  the 
Jansenists  taught  that  man,  unaided  by  grace,  was 
utterly  corrupt  and  unable  to  do  anything  good,  that 
the  seeming  virtues  of  the  pagans,  of  a  Socrates  and 
others,  were  but  gilded  vices,  the  Jesuits  always  main- 
tained firmly  that  fallen  man  remained  capable  of  per- 
forming some  good  works.  The  Jesuits  were  more. 
1  History  of  Pedagogy,  p.  144, 


CLASSICAL    STUDIKS.  365 

than  once  styled  Pelagians  or  Semipelagians,  because, 
as  their  adversaries  said,  they  extolled  human  nature 
too  much.  The  Jesuits  could,  consistently  with  their 
philosophical  and  theological  doctrine,  propose  to  their 
pupils  the  example  of  the  natural  virtues  of  the  pagans. 

On  the  other  hand,  they  were  most  anxious  to  show 
the  immense  superiority  of  the  religion  of  Christ  to 
the  philosophical  systems  of  the  ancients;  they  pointed 
out  the  helplessness  of  Greek  philosophy  to  raise  man 
above  the  baser  elements  of  nature,  and  they  showed 
into  what  an  abyss  of  corruption  the  human  race,  left 
to  itself,  had  fallen.  All  this  instruction  they  could 
impart  only  if  they  left  in  the  authors  what  was  char- 
acteristic of  their  time  and  spirit,  except  such  passages 
as  on  account  of  their  obscenity  were  not  fit  to  be 
read  by  youths.  Here  we  have  the  meaning  of  the 
saying  frequently  used  by  Jesuit  educators:  " So  in- 
terpret pagan  authors  as  to  make  of  them  heralds  of 
Christ."  The  religious  and  moral  principles  of  the 
ancients  were  to  be  judged  by  the  standard  of  Chris- 
tian principles ;  what  manifested  the  human  spirit  in 
its  divine  likeness,  the  testimony  of  the  Anima  natura- 
liter  Christiana,  as  Tertullian  says  so  beautifully,  wras 
approved  and  recommended ;  what  exhibited  that 
spirit  of  nature  which  is  "the  enemy  of  Christ,"  was 
condemned.  If  M.  Cornpayre  reprehends  the  Jesuits 
for  doing  this,  they  must  be  proud  of  such  reproach  ; 
for  it  is  a  contumely  suffered  for  defending  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  against  the  doctrine  of  rank  naturalism. 

The  Jesuits  were  never  afraid  of  the  ancient  authors 
themselves.  History  has  proved  this.  If  they  had 
been  afraid,  they  would  have  introduced  the  Christian 
L,atin  and  Greek  authors  instead  of  the  pagan  classics. 


366  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

As  they  possessed  almost  an  educational  monopoly  in 
Catholic  countries  for  about  two  centuries,  it  is  certain 
that  they  would  have  succeeded,  had  they  attempted 
such  a  change.  But  they  never  attempted  this  change; 
on  the  contrary,  they  strongly  opposed  such  attempts. 
It  suffices  to  allude  to  the  famous  controversy  carried 
on  with  so  much  vigor  by  Abbe  Gaume  in  France, 
about  fifty  years  ago.  This  zealous  scholar  main- 
tained that  the  pagan  classics  infected  the  schools  with 
pagan  ideas ;  indeed,  he  saw  in  their  use  in  the 
schools  the  *  'fatal  cancer  which  preys  upon  the  vitals 
of  Christianity. ' ' 1  Christian  L,atin  and  Greek  authors 
should,  therefore,  be  substituted  for  the  pagan  classics. 
Many  distinguished  Catholic  scholars  and  writers, 
such  as  Montalembert,  L,ouis  Veuillot,  Donoso  Cortes 
and  others  sided  with  Abbe  Gaume.  Among  those 
who  most  strenuoUvSly  defended  the  classics  were  the 
Jesuits,  foremost  among  them  Father  Daniel.  In  a 
most  elegant  and  learned  book2  this  Jesuit  proved 
overwhelmingly  that,  from  the  earliest  centuries,  the 
majority  of  the  great  Doctors  of  the  Christian  Church 
were  not  opposed  to  the  classics,  on  the  contrary  that 
most  of  them  favored  their  study,  and  that  the  severe 
language  of  a  few  Fathers  is  directed  not  against  the 
classics  as  such,  but  against  the  idolatry  and  obscenity 
contained  in  many  of  them.3 

1  Gaume,  Paganism  in  Education,  translated  by  Robert 
Hill,  London,  Dolman,  1852. 

2  Charles  Daniel,  S.  J.,  Des    Etudes  classiques  dans   la 
societ^  chretienne.     Paris  1853. 

3  On  this  subject  see  two  interesting  articles  in  the  Dub- 
lin Review:  "The  French  Controversy  on  the  Use  of  Pagan 
Literature  in  Education,"  vol.  XXXIII,  Dec.  1852,  pp.  321— 
336;  and   "The   Gaume   Controversy  on   Classical  Studies," 
vol.  VII  (new  series),  1866,  pp.  200—228. 


STUDIES.  367 

There  was,  as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  only  one  Jesuit 
writer  who  ranged  himself  prominently  on  the  side  of 
Abbe  Gaume  in  this  controversy.1  The  Jesuits, 
as  a  body,  "the  greatest  of  all  educational  communi- 
ties," as  a  writer  at  the  time  called  them,2  stood  up 
for  the  defence  of  the  classics.  They  did  not  deny 
that  the  classics  contained  dangerous  elements,  which 
could  work  evil  in  men  of  bad  hearts,  or  weak 
heads.  But  they  thought  that  it  was  the  vicious 
organization  of  the  individual,  or  a  pernicious  system 
of  teaching,  as  that  of  many  humanists,  that  extracted 
the  poison  from  the  classics  and  rejected  the  sound 
aliment  of  intellectual  food  contained  in  the  ancient 
literature.  This  danger  cannot  exist  for  all,  and  it  can 
be  effectively  remedied  by  wise  teaching.  As  the 
afore-mentioned  writer  declared,  "put  education  into 
proper  hands,  and  the  greatest  step  [towards  obviating 

1  La  Natura  e  la  Grazia,  Rome  1865.  —  The  fact  that 
this  Jesuit   publicly  opposed  the  views   held   generally  by 
his  fellow-religious,  may  furnish  material  for  an  important 
reflection.     It  is  so  often  asserted  that  the  Jesuits  have  to 
follow,  like  humble  sheep,  a  certain  system  or  set  of  opinions 
prescribed  for  them,  and  that  any  utterance  of  individual  views 
is  practically   excluded.      The  whole   history  of  the  Order 
proves  the  contrary.     Even  in  theological  opinions,  as  Car- 
dinal Newman  said,  the  Order  is  not  over-zealous  about  its 
traditions,  or  it  would  not  suffer  its  great  writers  to  be  en- 
gaged in  animated  controversies  with  one  another.     {Histor- 
ical Sketches  >  vol.  II,  p.  369.)     We  shall  have  more  to  say  on 
this  subject  in  chapter  XV,  when  we  treat  of  the  training  of 
the  Jesuit  teacher.     Whenever  the  Jesuits  as  a  body  defend 
certain  opinions,  they  do  so  on  the  intrinsic  strength  of  the 
arguments  for  these  opinions,  not   for  the  extrinsic  reason 
of  a  tradition  of  their  Order. 

2  Dublin  Review,  December  1852,  p.  322. 


368  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

possible  evils]  is  achieved.  The  present  position  of 
the  Jesuits  in  France  is  for  us  a  more  hopeful  sign 
than  would  be  the  introduction  of  the  very  system 
called  for  by  Abbe  Gaume. ' ' l 

In  1894  M.  Jules  lyemaitre  renewed  the  attacks  on 
the  classics,  directing  his  accusations  especially  against 
the  Jesuit  schools.  "I  find,"  he  writes,  "in  the  pagan 
authors  read  in  schools  voluptuous  naturalism,  Epi- 
curean principles,  or  that  Stoicism  which  is  not  virtue 
but  pride.  The  consequences  of  this  anomalous  state 
of  affairs  are  incalculable.  We  cannot  wonder  that 
the  Jesuit  colleges  have  produced  so  many  pagans  and 
freethinkers,  among  them  Voltaire."2  Now  this  is 
very  amusing.  This  writer  accuses  the  Jesuits  of 
fostering  a  heathen,  free-thinking  spirit,  by  means  of 
teaching  the  classics;  and  M.  Compayre  charges  them 
with  suppressing  the  characteristic  spirit  of  the  classi- 
cal writers.  This  is  one  of  the  numberless  contradic- 
tions into  which  the  opponents  of  the  Society  have 
been  betrayed.  If  the  classics  were  taught  in  the 
spirit  of  M.  Compayre,  there  is  little  doubt  that,  as 
Abbe  Gaume  and  M.  L,emaitre  apprehended,  free- 
thinkers would  be  produced.  But  the  Jesuits  teach 
them  in  quite  a  different  spirit.  Hence  the  charges  of 
these  writers  are  wide  of  the  mark.  Nor  did  the 
Jesuits  give  mere  anonymous  fragments,  mere  traves- 
ties of  the  classics,  as  M.  Compayre  claims.  They 
expunged  obscene  passages  from  their  editions,  as 
conscientious  non-Catholic  editors  have  done,  and  that 
is  all.3  The  reasons  for  doing  this  are  so  obvious  that 

1  Ibid.,  p.  335. 

2  Revue  bleuey  Jan.  1894.     Chossat,  /.  c.,  p.  330. 

3  We  do  not  intend  by  any  means  to  say  that  all  Jesuit 
editors  of  such  texts  have  kept  to  the  golden  mean.     On  the 


CLASSICAL   STUDIES.  369 

there  should  be  no  need  of  defending  this  practice. 
However,  we  shall  say  more  on  this  subject  when 
speaking  of  the  "Moral  Scope  of  Education."  (Chap- 
ter XVII.) 

One  more  word  about  selected  extracts.  One  of 
the  greatest  Greek  scholars  of  our  age,  Professor  von 
Wilamowitz-Moellendorf  of  the  Berlin  University,  has 
just  published,  at  the  recommendation  of  the  Prussian 
Ministry  of  Instruction,  a  Greek  reader  consisting  of 
selected  extracts  from  different  authors  and  different 
kinds  of  literature.1  The  object  of  this  book  is  to  give 
the  students  of  the  higher  classes  of  the  gymnasium, 
by  means  of  characteristic  selections  from  various 
kinds  of  writings,  a  conspectus  of  the  whole  range  of 
Greek  literature.  We  do  not  wish  here  to  attempt  a 
criticism  of  such  a  plan;  what  we  want  to  state  is  that, 
even  at  present,  great  scholars  think  selected  extracts 
of  great  value  especially  for  acquainting  the  students 
with  the  spirit  of  a  great  nation,  as  expressed  in  its 
literature.  If,  then,  the  Jesuits  had  read  chiefly 
selected  extracts — which  is  not  the  case — M.  Compayre 
would  not  be  justified  in  blaming  the  Jesuits  in  par- 
ticular for  doing  this,  unless  he  could  prove  that  their 
selections  were  destitute  of  all  educational  value. 

contrary,  we  admit  that  some  have  gone  to  extremes.  But  we 
do  not  deal  here  with  individual  cases,  but  with  the  general 
principle. 

1  GriechischesLesebuch.  Berlin,  Weidmaun,  1902.  Two 
volumes  text,  two  volumes  commentary.  See  on  this  reader, 
Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Conference,  1900,  pp.  205-215.  - 
Neue  Jahrbucher,  1902,  vol.  X,  pp.  270-284.  —  Monatschrift 
fur  hohere  Schulen,  Berlin,  March  1902,  pp.  158-160,  and 
October.  In  the  April  number  of  this  new  educational  re- 
view, p.  301,  it  is  stated  that  an  English  edition  of  this  work 
is  in  preparation. 
21 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Syllabus  of  School  Authors. 

§  i.     General  Remarks. 

The  Ratio  Studiorum  divides  the  literary  curricu- 
lum into  five  classes.  Father  Jouvancy  speaks  of  six,1 
adding  that  the  sixth  is  sometimes  combined  with  the 
fifth.  Father  Kropf  in  1736,  in  his  programme,  has 
six.  Most  Jesuit  colleges  in  this  country  have  six 
classes  in  the  literary  course,  to  which  are  added  two 
years  of  philosophy  with  higher  mathematics,  natural 
sciences  and  economics.  These  eight  classes  cor- 
respond to  the  high  school  and  the  college  course. 
The  four  lower  or  grammar  classes  are  equivalent  to 
the  high  school,  whereas  the  four  higher  classes: 
Humanities  (Freshman),  Rhetoric  (Sophomore), 
Junior  and  Senior  Philosophy,  correspond  to  the 
American  college,  with  one  essential  difference, 
"that  the  work  of  the  Jesuit  college  is  not  profes- 
sional study,  but  general  culture  and  preparation  for 
professional  study. ' ' 2 

When  in  the  following  pages  we  speak  of  the  study 
of  the  authors,  it  is  understood  that  a  systematic  study 
of  grammar  has  preceded  and  partly  accompanies  the 
reading  of  the  authors.  Of  late  there  is  a  tendency  to 
begin  reading  too  early,  almost  from  the  beginning, 

1  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  II,  art.  7. 

2  Rev.  F.  Heiermanii,  S.  J.,  in  Woodstock  Letters,  1897, 
p.  376:  "The  Ratio  Studiorum  and  the  American  College." 

(370) 


OF  SCHOOIy  AUTHORS.  37! 

and  to  study  the  whole  grammar  inductively.  Such 
reading  cannot  be  fruitful.  L,et  us  hear  two  German 
schoolmen  on  this  question.  Director  Jager  of  Cologne 
said  in  the  4ist  Conference  of  the  German  Philologi- 
ans  and  Educators  (Munich,  1891):  "The  reading  of 
the  authors  should  remain  the  principal  object  of  the 
classical  training,  but  it  must  be  an  intelligent  read- 
ing, reading  that  is  understood  because  of  solid  gram- 
matical training  imparted  previously.  Only  thus  can 
the  study  of  a  language  become  a  means  of  scientific 
knowledge.  Therefore,  sufficient  time  must  be  devoted 
to  the  grammatical  training."  Professor  Seeliger 
makes  the  following  very  timely  observations :  "One 
point  in  the  linguistic  training  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of:  namely,  that  the  understanding  of  the  authors 
must  be  solid ;  but  a  solid  appreciation  of  the  authors 
can  be  built  only  on  the  foundation  of  a  knowledge  of 
grammar.  Teachers  now-a-days  try  too  much  to  keep 
this  end  out  of  sight  for  fear  of  public  opinion;  some 
weakly  yield  to  the  Zeitgeist  and  hush  it  up  altogether, 
to  proclaim  the  more  loudly  that  the  reading  of  the 
authors  is  the  only  object  of  classical  instruction.  But 
I  think  grammatical  discipline  is  very  salutary,  even 
for  the  youth  of  the  present  age,  indeed,  a  remedy 
against  many  dangers  of  our  time.  And  any  one  of 
us  teachers  who  conscientiously  endeavors  to  make 
instruction  effective  should  fearlessly  profess  to  be  a 
grammaticus,  and  act  according  to  this  profession. ' '  * 

The  Ratio  Studiorum  prescribes  the  authors  to  be 
studied  in  the  various  classes,  and  in  Jouvancy's  com- 
mentary and  similar  documents,  other  authors  are 
mentioned  which  may  be  read  alongside  or  instead  of 

1     Neue  Jahrbucher,  1898,  vol.  II,  p.  83. 


372  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

those  enumerated  by  the  Ratio.  As  we  have  seen, 
the  matter  and  the  order  in  which  the  different  sub- 
jects are  to  be  taught  are  not  essential  to  the  Ratio. 
Consequently  it  is  not  necessary  to  follow  strictly  the 
given  list.  If  in  any  point  the  Ratio  can  and  must  be 
adapted  to  the  times,  it  is  in  the  choice  of  authors. 
Therefore,  those  which  are  generally  read  in  other 
classical  institutions  of  the  country,  should  be  pre- 
ferred and  taught  according  to  the  spirit  and  method 
of  the  Ratio.  In  fact,  all  authors  read  in  the  modern 
classical  schools  are  mentioned  in  the  Ratio  or  by 
Jouvancy. 

In  different  ages  we  find  different  tastes  and 
opinions.  We  must  not,  therefore,  be  surprised  to 
find  authors  recommended  as  school  books  which  do 
not  suit  our  taste.  We  give  here  a  list  of  authors  as 
contained  in  different  documents  of  the  Society.1 
When  the  Ratio  enumerates  many  authors  for  one  and 
the  same  class,  it  is  understood  that  the  choice  was 
left  to  provincial  or  local  superiors. 

FIRST  GRAMMAR  CLASS  (first  high  school  class): 
Latin:  easy  selections  from  Cicero,  if  possible  in 
separate  editions;  Fables  of  Phaedrus,  Lives  of 
Nepos. 

SECOND  GRAMMAR  CLASS.  Latin:  Ratio  Studio- 
rum:  the  same  as  preceding.  Jouvancy:  somewhat 
more  difficult  letters  of  Cicero,  Virgil's  Bucolics, 
selections  from  Ovid  and  other  poets.  —  Greek:  Fables 
of  Aesop. 

THIRD  GRAMMAR  CLASS.  ^Latin:  Ratio  Studio- 
rum:  Letters  of  Cicero,  Caesar's  Commentaries,  easy 
poems  of  Ovid.  Jouvancy:  Cicero's  Somnium  Scipio- 

1  From  various  rules  of  the  Ratio  Studioruni,  and  Jou- 
vancy, Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  II,  art.  7. 


OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  373 

nis,  Virgil's  Georgics,  especially  books  I  and  IV. 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses.  —  Greek:  Fables  of  Aesop; 
the  Tablet  of  Cebes;  select  dialogues  of  Lucian. 

FOURTH  GRAMMAR  CiyASS.  Latin:  more  impor- 
tant letters  of  Cicero;  De  Senectute,  De  Amicitia  etc. ; 
select  elegies  and  epistles  of  Ovid,  or  selections  from 
Tibullus,  Catullus,  Propertius,  and  Virgil's  Eclogues; 
or  the  fourth  book  of  Virgil's  Georgics,  the  fifth  and 
seventh  book  of  the  Aeneid  etc.  — Jouvancy:  Caesar, 
Cicero's  De  Officiis.  —  Greek:  St.  Chrysostom  (select 
Homilies) ,  Xenophon.  —  Jouvancy :  Orations  of 
Isocrates. 

HUMANITIES  (Freshman).  Latin.-  Cicero,  especially 
ethical  writings  and  easier  orations.  Caesar,  Sallust, 
L,ivy,  Curtius  etc.;  of  the  poets,  above  all  Virgil 
(Aeneid);  Odes  of  Horace,  etc.  —  Greek:  Orations  of 
Isocrates,  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Basil,  Epistles  of 
Plato,1  and  Synesius,  selections  from  Plutarch;  of  the 
poets:  Homer,  Phocylides,  Theognis  etc.  Nadal  pre- 
scribes besides:  Aristophanes. 

RHETORIC  (Sophomore).  Latin:  Rhetorical  works 
and  orations  of  Cicero;  Quintilian;  historians.  Jouv- 
ancy: lyivy,  Tacitus,  Suetonius  etc.;  poets  (not 
specified  by  the  Ratio);  Jouvancy:  Seneca,  Juvenal 
etc. — Greek:  Demosthenes,  Plato,  Thucydides,  Homer, 
Hesiod,  Pindar  etc. ;  also  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St. 
Basil,  and  St.  Chrysostom.  — Jouvancy:  Sophocles  or 
Euripides.  —  Nadal  prescribes  Demosthenes,  Thucy- 
dides, the  tragedians,  Pindar,  and  " all  the  more  im- 
portant and  more  difficult  authors. ' '  2 

1  Now  universally  considered  spurious,   although  even 
in  the  19th  century  scholars  were  not  wanting  who  defended 
their  genuineness,  as  Griinm  and  Grote. 

2  Monum.  Paed.,  p.  92. 


374  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

From  this  last  statement,  and  in  fact  from  the  whole 
list,  it  appears  that  all  the  important  authors  were  in- 
cluded in  the  Jesuit  plan,  and  that  those  who  made 
the  sweeping  assertion  that  "the  greatest  Greek 
authors  were  all  excluded  from  the  Jesuit  schools/' l 
have  not  looked  at  the  documents  of  the  Society.  All 
the  most  important  authors  were  explicitly  prescribed. 
It  is  evident  that  not  all  the  authors  which  are  men- 
tioned could  be  read.  The  different  provinces  of  the 
Society  drew  up  lists,  or  catalogues  of  authors,  which 
varied  in  different  years.  Thus  in  the  Province  of 
Upper  Germany  in  1602 — 1604  a  catalogue  perpetuus 
was  drawn  up,  i.  e.  a  list  of  authors  to  be  read  every 
four  or  five  years.  We  subjoin  the  list  of  the  books 
for  Rhetoric  class.2 

A.  D.  1604:  Cicero,  Orator  ad  Brutum;  orations, 
vol.  II.  The  Annals  of  Tacitus.  The 
Tragedies  of  Seneca.  —  The  Philippics  of 
Demosthenes.  The  e/xya  KO.I  ^/>cu  of  Hes- 
iod. 

A.  D.  1605:  Cicero,  Partitiones  Oratoriae;  orations, 
vol.  III.  lyivy,  I.  decade.  Juvenal  — 
The  Olynthiacs  of  Demosthenes.  Homer, 
Iliad,  books  I  and  II. 

A.  D.  1606:  Cicero,  De  Oratore,  three  books;  orations, 
vol.  I.  lyivy,  III.  decade.  Statius, 
Thebaid.  —  Isocrates,  Panegyric.  Euri- 
pides, Hecuba. 

A.  D.  1607:  Cicero,  De  Optimo  Genere  Oratorum;  ora- 
tions, vol.  II.  Tacitus,  Historiae.  Clau- 
dian  and  Herodian.  —  Aristotle,  Rheto- 
ric. Sophocles. 

1  See  above  p.  8,  note  1. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  1—29. 


SYU<ABUS  OF  SCHOOIy  AUTHORS.  375 

A.  D.  1608:  Cicero,  Partitioned  Oratoriae;  orations,  vol. 

III.    Statius,  Sylvae.  —  Xenophon,  Cyro- 

paedeia.     Homer,  Odyssey,  I  and  II. 
In  the  Province  of  the  Rhine  in   Rhetoric  class 
were  read: 
A.  D.  1629:  Cicero,   Partitioned;  orations,  vol.  I.     De 

Claris  Oratoribus.     Horace,  Odes,  b.  III. 

Seneca,  Hercules  furens.    lyivy,  I.  decade. 

—  Demosthenes,    Olynthiacs.      Chrysos- 

toni,  DeSacerdotio,  b.  IV.     Homer,  Iliad, 

b.  IV.     Greek  epigrams. 
A.  D.  1630:  Cicero,  orations,  vol.  IV.    De  Inventione; 

Orator.     Horace,    b.    IV.     and    Epodes. 

lyivy,  III.  decade.     Seneca,  Thyestes.  — 

Homer,  Iliad,  b.  V  etc. 

These  lists  represent  a  considerable  amount  of 
reading  from  the  best  authors.  Modern  writers  ob- 
ject to  some  of  the  authors  recommended  by  the 
Ratio.  However,  to  avoid  unfairness,  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  opinions  held  in  former  ages 
about  certain  authors  were  different  from  those  cur- 
rent at  present.  The  same  objections  can  be  made 
against  Protestant  school  plans  of  former  centuries. 
Thus  Melanchthon,  as  well  as  the  Jesuits,  considered 
the  smaller  poems  formerly  attributed  to  Homer,  v.  g. 
the  Batrachomyomachia,  as  a  fit  school  classic.  Also 
Hesiod,  Aratus,  Plutarch,  and  L,ucian  are  recom- 
mended by  Melanchthon.1 

Catullus,  Tibullus,  Propertius,  the  Disticha  Cato- 
nis,  Aurelius  Victor,  Eutropius,  L,ucan,  Pliny,  Pru- 

1  Hartfelder,  Philipp  Melanchthon  als  Praeceptor  Ger- 
maniae^  vol.  VII  of  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica. 
Berlin  1889,  pp.  360—397. 


376  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

dentius,  Publilius,  Sedulius,  Seneca,  Severus,  Vel- 
lejus,  Aelian,  Aesop,  Cebes,  Hesiod,  Lucian,  Phocy- 
lides,  Plutarch,  Pythagoras,  Theognis  etc. ,  were  read 
in  the  Protestant  schools  of  Brunswick  and  other 
countries.1  Besides,  in  these  schools  the  works  of  the 
Neo-Latinists,  as  Buchanan,  Castalio,  Eobanus  Hes- 
sus,  Erasmus,  Lotichius,  Sabinus,  Sleidanus  and 
others,  were  read  more  extensively  than  in  the  Jesuit 
schools,  which  confined  themselves  almost  exclusively 
to  the  ancient  classics.  As  the  ancient  authors  possess 
a  far  superior  educational  value,  the  choice  of  the 
Jesuits  betokens  great  pedagogical  wisdom. 

It  is  evident  that  authors  like  Theognis,  Phocyli- 
des,  etc.  are  not  read  in  modern  Jesuit  schools.  In 
fact  the  Jesuits  have,  in  the  choice  of  authors,  suited 
their  schools  to  the  times. 

It  may  also  be  questioned  whether  it  is  advisable 
to  read  selections  from  Cicero's  letters  in  the  lowest 
classes,  as  they  can  be  given  only  piecemeal;  they 
furnish  an  excellent  subject  for  higher  classes,  after 
the  students  have  become  acquainted  with  Roman 
history.  For  the  lowest  class  good  connected  pieces, 
short  stories  from  history,  mythology  etc.,  as  found  in 
Latin  Readers,  will  serve  the  purpose  better  than 
Cicero's  letters.  In  the  next  class  the  lyives  of  Nepos 
may  be  taken  up,  followed  by  the  study  of  Caesar's 
Commentaries  in  the  third.  Such  a  plan  was  suggested 
by  the  German  province  as  early  as  1830.  In  the 
propositions  sent  to  Rome  in  that  year  it  was  said  that 
Cicero's  letters,  with  very  few  exceptions,  require  a 
considerable  knowledge  of  Roman  history  and  should 

1  Koldewey,  Braunschweigische  Schulordnungen,  vol.  I 
and  VIII  of  the  M&numenta  Germaniae  Paedagogicay  passim. 


SYI<I,ABU$  OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  377 

be  replaced  by  select  historical  passages  etc.  from  the 
writings  of  the  same  author.1 

Father  Jouvancy,  in  several  chapters  of  his  Ratio 
Discendi,  gives  brief  notes  on  the  most  important 
L,atin  and  Greek  authors  and  their  characteristics,  "to 
show,"  as  he  says,  "in  what  order  they  should  be 
read  and  what  fruit  may  be  derived  from  their  study. ' ' 2 
A  few  of  his  remarks,  as  is  to  be  expected,  cannot 
stand  in  the  light  of  modern  philological  and  histor- 
ical criticism.  However,  for  the  greater  part  his  ob- 
servations are  most  judicious  and  correct.  We  shall 
embody  the  substance  of  these  chapters  of  Jouvancy 
in  the  following  notes  on  the  authors,  supplementing 
them  from  the  splendid  History  of  Universal  Literature 
of  Father  Baumgartner,3  and  comparing  them  with 
the  opinions  of  other  prominent  scholars.4 

§  2.    Latin  Prose  Writers. 

CICERO  is  first  and  preeminently  prescribed  by  the 
Ratio  for  every  grade.  And  rightly  so,  if  we  except 
the  lowest  classes.  For  he  is  the  master  of  the  L,atin 
language  and  the  best  representative  of  ancient  cul- 
ture, indeed,  as  regards  Latin  oratory,  the  only  repre- 
sentative.5 In  former  times,  particularly  during  the 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  442. 

2  Ratio  Discendi,  ch.  I,  art.  1,  §  2 ;   art.  2,  §  5;  ch.  II, 
art.  2,  §  7,  and  art.  3,  §  3. 

3  Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur,  especially  vol.  Ill,  which 
deals  with  the  classical  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome  ;  on 
this  work  see  above  p.  233—234. 

4  We  quote  cbiefly  from  Nagelsbacb,  Gymnasial-Pdda- 
gogik  (3.  ed.)-K  Dettweiler,  Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  Latei- 
nischen  and  Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  Griechischen;  Will- 
man  11,  Didaktik  als  Bildungslehre\  Antbon,  Class.  Dictionary. 

5  Dettweiler,  Did.  des  Lat.y  p.  193. 


378  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Renaissance,  Cicero  was  overestimated;  now,  after  the 
sweeping  condemnations  of  Drumann,  Froude,  and 
Mommsen,  it  lias  become  the  fashion  to  treat  him 
with  contempt.  Cicero  finds  a  more  sympathetic,  and 
we  think  more  just,  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the 
great  Cardinal  Newman,  in  his  Personal  and  Literary 
Character  of  Cicero,1  where  the  life  of  this  gifted 
Roman,  his  works,  and  his  style  are  admirably 
described.  Cicero's  style  is  so  splendid  and  masterly 
that  the  greatest  of  the  Romans,  Caesar,  could  not 
help  admiring  his  inventive  powers,  which,  as  New- 
man says,  "constitute  him  the  greatest  master  of  com- 
position that  the  world  has  seen."  Of  late  years  a 
healthy  reaction  has  set  in  against  the  vagaries  of 
such  radical  critics  as  Mommsen  and  Froude.  Quite 
recently  Professor  von  Wilamowitz  of  the  University 
of  Berlin,  stated  emphatically:  "In  spite  of  Mommsen, 
Cicero  must  remain  the  centre  of  L,atin  instruction. ' '  2 
Which  works  of  Cicero  are  to  be  read?  The  Ratio 
Studiorum  and  other  documents  mention  his  epistles, 
orations,  philosophical  and  rhetorical  works.  Some 
specimens  of  all  these  should  be  studied. 

I.     Of  his  orations  the  following  deserve  especially 
to  be  read.3 

i.  Verrinae  I,  IV,  V;  in  the  fourth,  De  Signis,  the 
marvellous  grouping  of  the  material  is  highly  in- 
structive. 2.  De  Imperio  Cn.  Pompei  (De  Lege  Mani- 
lla}, has  a  most  lucid  disposition.  3.  In  Catilinam, 

1  Historical  Sketches,  vol.  I,  pp.  239—300. 

2  Transactions  of  the  Berlin  Conference  1900,  p.  207.  - 
See  alse  Weisweiler,  Cicero  als  Schulschriftsteller,  and  Zie- 
linski,  Cicero  ini  Wandel  derjahrhunderte,  Leipsic,  Teubner. 

3  Cf.  Dettweiler,  /.  c.,  p.  193  sq.  —  Nagelsbach,  Gymna- 
sial-Padagogik,  p.  123. 


SYU,ABUS  OF  SCHOOIv  AUTHORS.  379 

especially  the  first  and  third  exhibit  a  splendid  elo- 
quence. 4.  Pro  Milone,  distinguished  by  masterly 
argumentation.  5.  One  or  other  of  the  Philippicae 
(the  second  seems  to  be  the  best).  6.  Pro  Ligario. 
7.  Pro  Mar  cello.  8.  Pro  Archia  Poeta  (contains  a 
magnificent  passage  on  the  Liberal  Arts).  — Cicero's 
invectives  (against  Catiline  and  Anthony)  are  some- 
times wanting  in  gravity,  and  are  too  declamatory;  his 
laudatory  orations,  on  the  other  hand,  are  among  his 
happiest  efforts.  But  all  abound  in  descriptions  full 
of  life  and  nature,  and  his  skill  in  amplification  is  un- 
surpassed. 

II.  Philosophical  writings: 

i.  The  finest  part  is  his  Somnium  Scipionis,  on  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  (in  his  De  Republica,  which 
cannot  well  be  read  on  account  of  the  many  gaps  in 
the  text).1  2.  Cato  Major,  or  De  Semctute,  is  clear 
and  easy,  and  is  better  than  Laelius:  De  Amicitia.2 

3.  De  Officiis   is  well  fitted  for  the  highest  classes. 

4.  The   Disputationes    Tusculanae,   especially  lib.    i, 
form  good  and  relatively  easy  reading.3 

III.  Rhetorical    Works.      De    Oratore,     Orator  ad 
Brutum    etc.,    are   read    in    Rhetoric    class    (Sopho- 
more). 

IV.  The  Letters  of  Cicero  form  the  most  valuable, 
as  well  as  the  largest,  collection  of  letters  (870  pieces) 

1  There  exist  good  separate  editions  of  the  Somnium 
Scipionis,  for  instance,  Reid's  (Pitt  Press  Series). 

2  In  the  introduction  to  his  excellent  commentary  on 
the  latter  work,  Professor  Seyffert  says:  "De  Senectute  may 
be  read  in  Tertia  (fourth  class),  De  Amicitia  should  not  be 
taken  up  before  Upper-Secunda  (sixth  class)." 

3  See  Dettweiler,  p.  200.  —  On  Cicero's  philosophy  see 
also  Dollinger,  The  Gentile  and  the  Jew,  vol.  II,  p.  118  sq. 


380  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

we  possess  of  any  of  the  ancients.  They  are  the  most 
important  source  for  the  history  of  this  remarkable 
period.  In  a  very  pleasant  manner  the  writer  exposes 
all  his  good  and  weak  points:  his  honest,  although 
short-sighted  patriotism,  his  affectionate  heart,  his 
fickleness,  inconstancy  and  vanity.  Drumann  and 
Mommsen,  who  take  his  naive  confessions  in  a  wrong 
light,  are  too  severe  on  Cicero.  Professor  Mommsen 
is  altogether  biased  against  Cicero  in  favor  of  his  hero 
Caesar.  Mr.  T.  Rice  Holmes  has  well  said  with 
reference  to  Mommsen:  "Historical  imagination  is  a 
great  quality,  but  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  run 
riot."1 

These  letters  are  an  excellent  subject  for  study  in 
the  middle  or  higher  classes.  A  selection  can  easily 
be  made  so  as  to  illustrate  Cicero's  stormy  career  from 
62 — 43  B.  c. ,  as  well  as  to  reflect  the  whole  history  of 
that  period  fraught  with  events,  which  were  to  change 
the  world's  history.  For  this  purpose  the  following 
selection  used  to  be  read  in  a  Jesuit  college  of  this 
country:  Ad  Fam.  V,  i;  V,  2;  Ad  Att.  II,  22;  Ad 
Fam.  XIV,  4;  Ad  Att.  IV,  i;  Ad'  Fam.  VII,  i; 
XIV,  4;  Ad  Att.  VII,  ii-9  Ad  Fam.  XVI,  12;  Ad 
Att.  VIII,  3  (Cicero's  opinion  of  Pompey  and  Caesar); 
Ad  Att.  IX,  18  (a  highly  interesting  description  of 
Cicero's  interview  with  Caesar);  Ad  Att.  XII,  18; 
Ad  Fam.  IV,  5  and  6;  Ad  Att.  XIV,  12;  Ad  Fam. 
XI,  27  and  28;  XI,  i;  IX,  14;  XII,  4;  X,  28,  etc.2 

1  Caesar's  Conquest  of  Gaul,  p.  755  (see  also  p.  803). 

2  On  "Cicero's  Letters  as  Class  Reading,"  see  the  excel- 
lent article  of  Dr.  O.  K.  Schmidt  in  Neue  Jahrbucher,  vol. 
VIII,  pp.  162 — 174.    This  author  wishes  them  to  be  read,  after 
the  orations  against  Catiline,  De  Senectute,  or  De  Amicitia 
have  been  studied.     He  adds  also  a  plan  for  a  new  selection 
of  the  letters. 


SYI^ABUS  OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  381 

The  translation  of  Cicero  should  be  exquisite  and 
polished,  as  is  the  noble  and  refined  diction  of  the 
original.1 

CAESAR.  Of  the  character  of  this  '  'greatest  of  the 
Romans,"  Mommsen  has  given  a  splendid  delineation 
in  his  Roman  History,  although  this  sketch  is  over- 
drawn and  entertaining  rather  than  convincing.  We 
have  here  to  do  with  Caesar  only  as  historian,  par- 
ticularly as  the  writer  of  the  Commentaries  on  the 
Gallic  War.  For  simple  straightforward  historical 
style  these  commentaries  remain  up  to  this  day,  an 
unsurpassed  model.2  Caesar's  style  is  remarkable  for 
clearness,  ease,  perfect  equality  of  expression,  and  a 
simplicity  bordering  on  severity.  There  is  something 
of  the  imperator  or  the  dictator  in  his  very  language. 
He  commands  style  and  language  as  he  does  his 
legions.  After  the  first  difficulties  are  overcome,  the 
reading  ought  to  be  quick,  as  that  of  all  histories  and 
epics  in  general.  Continual  references  are  to  be  made 
to  the  maps.  Drawings  and  plans,  illustrating  the 
descriptions  of  battles  and  sieges,  will  arouse  interest 
and  facilitate  the  understanding  of  the  text.  The 
translation  of  this  author,  quite  different  from  that  of 
Cicero,  should  be  plain  and  forcible,  like  the  original 
itself.  From  the  historical  standpoint  it  must  not  be 
overlooked  that  Caesar's  Commentaries  are  not  an  un- 
biased historical  work,  but  one  written  for  a  political 
purpose,  viz.,  the  justification  of  his  proceedings  in 
Gaul.  The  great  general  was  also  a  skilled  strategist 
in  writing,  a  master  in  the  art  ot  grouping  events,  so 

1  See  also  various  works  on  Cicero,  by  Middleton,  For- 
syth,  Trollope,  Collins,  Boissier,  etc. 

2  Father  Bauingartuer,  vol.  III.  p.  383, 


382  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

as  to  represent  his  measures  as  justified  without  losing 
the  appearance  of  strict  historic  objectivity.  In  par- 
ticular the  speeches  are  frequently  clever  partisan 
writings.  From  the  ethical  point  of  view  it  will  be 
also  necessary  to  indicate  occasionally  the  brutality  of 
this  great  imperialist  in  dealing  with  the  Gallic  and 
German  tribes.  Roman  military  antiquities  should  be 
studied  in  connection  with  the  reading  of  the  Com- 
mentaries,1 while  the  civil,  political  and  social  anti- 
quities are  best  treated  in  connection  with  the  study 
of  Cicero.  So  it  was  done  in  the  Jesuit  schools  under 
the  name  of  ''general  erudition." 

LEVY'S  great  history  of  Rome  is  not  a  critical 
work,  but  a  popular  narrative,  written  with  the 
warmth  of  an  enthusiastic  patriot.  His  Latin  is  not 
as  elegant  and  grand  as  Cicero's,  but  is,  as  Jouvancy 
says,  "forcible  and  dignified."  2  In  a  period  of  moral 
decadence  he  upheld  the  old  virtus  Romana  which  had 
made  Rome  the  queen  of  the  world.  Of  special  beauty 
are  the  speeches  which  I<ivy  makes  his  heroes  deliver 
in  important  moments.  They  form  part  and  parcel  of 
his  narrative  and  dramatically  exhibit  the  inner  feel- 
ings of  the  principal  personages.  Books  I  and  II 
should  be  read;  but  above  all  XXI  and  XXII,  the 
glowing  account  of  the  second  Punic  War,  especially 
Hannibal's  daring  exploit  in  crossing  the  Alps. — Care 
must  be  taken  to  analyze  his  periods  and  to  render 
them  into  shorter  English  sentences. 

S AUGUST,  in  his  Bellum  Jugurthinum  and  Conjura- 
tio  Catilinae,  of  which  latter  event  he  was  a  contem- 

1  A  magnificent  and  most  helpful  work  for  the  study  of 
the  Commentaries  is  T.  Rice  Holmes'  Caesar's  Conquest  of 
Gaul.     London,  Macmillau,  1899. 

2  Rat.  Disc.,  ch.  1,  art.  2,  §  5. 


SYW<ABUS  OF  SCHOOIv  AUTHORS.  383 

porary,  gives  an  insight  into  the  political  machina- 
tions and  the  corruptions  of  Roman  society.  His 
style  is  carefully  formed  after  that  of  Thucydides,  and 
is  distinguished  for  vigor  and  conciseness,  but  becomes 
sometimes  sententious  and  abrupt.  He  is  also  cen- 
sured for  archaic  expressions,  and  on  the  whole,  lacks 
graceful  ease  and  smoothness.  The  delineations  of 
character,  (e.  g.  of  Catiline,  Jugurtha,  Marius),  have 
always  been  considered  masterpieces.  Jouvancy 
rightly  says:  "Sallust  exhibits  an  abundance  of 
material  and  a  wealth  of  ideas. ' ' 

TACITUS  is  the  greatest  historian  of  Rome,  if  not 
of  antiquity.1  He  was  a  stern  Roman  of  the  old 
stamp,  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  virtus  Romana, 
which  in  his  time  had  almost  totally  vanished.  But 
the  sad  condition  of  his  time  made  him  gloomy,  pes- 
simistic, and  one-sided.  "Tacitus  and  Juvenal  paint 
the  deathbead  of  pagan  Rome ;  they  have  no  eyes  to 
see  the  growth  of  new  Rome,  with  its  universal 
citizenship,  its  universal  Church  (first  of  the  Em- 
perors, afterwards  of  Christ).  .  .  .  The  Empire  out- 
raged the  old  republican  tradition,  that  the  provincial 
was  naturally  inferior  to  the  Roman  :  but  this,  which 
is  the  greatest  crime  in  the  eyes  of  Tacitus,  is  pre- 
cisely what  constitutes  its  importance  in  the  history  of 
the  world."  2  Tacitus'  sympathetic  description  of  the 
simple  and  incorrupt  manners  of  the  Germans,  in  his 
Germania,  was  intended  to  set  the  Roman  corruptions 
in  a  more  glaring  light,  and  is  evidently  too  much 
idealized.  In  psychological  depth,  warmth  of  feeling, 
and  vigor  of  expression,  Tacitus  surpasses  even  Thu- 

1  See  Father  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  531—538. 

2  Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,  p.  175. 


384  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

cydides.  His  style  is  dignified,  rnanly,  studiously 
devoid  of  everything  feminine  and  merely  ornamen- 
tal; it  is  so  brief  and  concise,  as  to  be  often  obscure. 
Jouvancy  says  most  appropriately:  ''His  sentiments 
are  striking  and  profound,  so  that  only  deep  reflection 
can  fathom  them,  and  mere  reading  is  not  sufficient."  l 
For  these  reasons  his  Annales  and  Historiae  are  the 
proper  reading  only  for  the  highest  classes  and  for 
mature  men. 

Of  other  L,atin  prose  authors  not  much  need  be 
said.  CORNEUUS  NEPOS'  Biographies  of  Great  Gener- 
als, written  in  a  simple  style,  form  easy  and  instruc- 
tive reading  for  the  lowest  classes.  —  During  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  well  as  in  the  first  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era,  one  of  the  favorite  authors  was  SENECA. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  No  philosopher  of  antiquity 
has  approached  the  Christian  view  of  life  as  closely 
as  Seneca,  so  that  a  legend  sprang  up  that  the 
Roman  had  become  acquainted  with  St.  Paul  and 
Christianity.  Tertullian  says:  Seneca  saepe  nosier ,  and 
Augustine,  Jerome,  and  L,actantius  appeal  to  his 
testimony.  His  letters  contain  the  loftiest  moral 
sentiments,  —  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  author's 
life — ;  " whole  letters,  with  few  changes,  might  have 
been  delivered  in  the  pulpit  by  Bourdaloue  and 
Massillon.  "2  However,  it  is  questionable  whether 
Seneca's  works  are  suitable  reading  for  young 
pupils.  A  distinguished  critic  says:  "Seneca  is  not 
to  be  read.  His  every  sentence  must  have  a  sharp 

1  Father  Baumgartner,  l.\c.y  vol.  Ill,  p.  534,  speaks  of  the 
"markige,  lapidare,  ur-romische  Stil  des  Tacitus" 

2  De  Maistre,  Soirees  de  St.  Petersbourg>  IX.  —  On  the 
spurious  Letters  of  Seneca  to  St.   Paul,   see   Barden hewer, 
Gesch.  der  altkirchl.  Literatur,  vol.  I  (Herder,  1902),  p.  470. 


OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  385 

point,  a  striking  antithesis.  This  is  no  wholesome 
food  for  boys."1  Jouvancy  seems  to  say  the  same, 
when  he  speaks  of  the  "  abruptness  and  ruggedness  of 
Seneca's  style." 

§  3.    Latin  Poets. 

PHAEDRUS  wrote  several  books  of  fables,  partly 
translations,  partly  imitations  of  the  famous  fables  of 
Aesop.  The  gracefulness,  precision,  elegance,  and 
simplicity  of  style,  make  the  fables  of  Phaedrus  ex- 
cellent reading  to  start  with  in  lower  classes.  Besides, 
his  sound  moral  precepts  afford  other  pedagogical  ad- 
vantages. 

OVID  is  the  most  gifted  of  Roman  poets,  more 
brilliant  than  Virgil,  unsurpassed  «in  his  power  of 
describing  and  ' 'painting,"  and  in  his  ease  and 
fluency  of  versification.  Father  Jouvancy,  in  a  few 
words,  expresses  the  best  judgment  that  can  be  passed 
on  this  writer:  " Would  that  he  were  as  chaste  and 
pure  as  he  is  elegant  and  pleasing."  This  is  only  too 
true.  Therefore,  his  works  must  be  read  with  great 
caution.  There  are  some  of  his  productions  of  whose 
existence  young  students  should  be  ignorant.  The 
Amoves,  Ars  Amandi,  Remedia  Amoris,  cannot  be  con- 
demned in  too  strong  terms.  The  poet  himself  con- 
fesses: "Nil  nisi  lascivi  per  me  discuntur  amores." 
Critics,  who  cannot  be  suspected  of  squeamishness  or 
religious  prejudice,  have  severely  censured  the  erotic 
poems  of  Ovid,  as  "gems  of  frivolousness,  handbooks 
of  lasciviousness,  which  on  young  readers  must  pro- 
duce the  effects  of  sweet  poison  that  enters  into  the 

1     Nagelsbach. 
25 


386  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

very  marrow. "  l  In  vSome  parts  of  the  second  and  third 
book  of  the  Ars  Amandi,  the  poet  burns  a  firework, 
the  stench  of  which  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  where  we 
are.  The  poison  is  all  the  more  dangerous  as  it  is 
offered  sweetened  with  the  virgin  honey  of  genuine 
poetic  diction.2  But  even  the  Metamorphoses  contain 
many  seductive  passages,  for  which  reason  only  selec- 
tions should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils. 

The  Metamorphoses  are  the  most  important  work 
for  class  reading.  There  is,  on  the  whole,  not  very 
much  depth  of  feeling  or  thought,  but  myth  after 
myth  is  related,  in  a  marvellous  variety  of  detailed 
description,  in  a  most  fascinating  style,  and  in  a  truly 
Homeric  naivete.  Indeed  Ovid  has  little  of  the  stern 
Roman  character;  he  has  more  of  the  gay,  imaginative 
Greek.  As  regards  his  style,  the  elegance  and  un- 
labored ease  of  his  versification  is  unrivalled.  He 
says  himself  of  his  facility  in  writing  verses:  Et  quod 
temptabam  dicere,  versus  erat.3  The  brilliancy  of  his 
imagination,  the  liveliness  of  his  wit,  the  wonderful 
art  of  bringing  every  scene  distinctly  before  the  eye, 
whether  he  describes  the  palace  of  the  Sun-God  or  the 
cottage  of  Philemon,  have  been  universally  admired. 
If  properly  treated,  Ovid  will  please  and  delight  boys. 
Above  all,  the  account  of  the  primeval  chaos  and 
creation  should  be  read.  It  is,  as  Father  Bauni- 
gartner  says,  "clear  and  grand  and  forms  the  noblest 
and  most  beautiful  cosmogony  which  classical  anti- 
quity and  the  pagan  Orient  have  handed  down." 

1  O.  Ribbeck,   Geschichte  der  romischen  Dichtung^oi. 
II,  pp.  217,  265. 

2  Schanz,  Geschichte  der  romischen  Literatur,  vol.  II, 
p.  147;  see  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  466—488. 

3  Tristia  IV,  10,  26. 
*    Vol.  Ill,  p.  478. 


SYU.ABUS  OF  SCHOOIv  AUTHORS.  387 

Then  should  be  read  the  four  ages  of  the  world,  the 
war  with  the  giants,  the  deluge,  Phaeton  (perhaps 
the  most  splendid  and  highly  poetical  of  his  efforts), 
Niobe,  and  the  lovely  idyl  Philemon  and  Baucis. 

The  translation  of  Ovid  should  be  easy  and  fluent. 
The  students  should  be  encouraged  to  translate  Ovid 
into  English  verse.  The  study  of  Greek  and  Oriental 
mythology  can  easily  be  connected  with  the  study  of 
the  Metamorphoses.  Father  Jouvancy,  in  an  appen- 
dix to  his  edition  of  select  stories  from  the  Metamor- 
phoses, gives  a  short,  but  useful  account  of  the  various 
deities. 

Nagelsbach  thinks  it  foolish  to  torment  boys  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  with  the  Tristia  or  Epistolae 
ex  PontOj  as  a  youthful  mind  could  not  take  interest  in 
those  perpetual  lamentations.  A  few  pieces,  how- 
ever, may  be  read  with  advantage,  v.  g.  the  departure 
from  Rome,  or  the  poet's  autobiography  (Ep.  ex  Ponto 
IV,  10),  etc. 

VIRGIN  is  "the  Prince  of  L,atin  poets"  (Jouvancy), 
"the  greatest  poet  of  the  Augustan  age,  the  most 
celebrated  imitator  of  Homer,  the  master  and  model 
of  Dante,1  the  favorite  of  Augustus  and  Maecenas,  the 
friend,  whom  Horace  calls  'the  half  of  my  soul',2  and 
the  anima  Candida,  the  stainless  soul,  the  ' Virgin 
poet',  as  he  was  styled  in  Naples."  3  His  language  is 
not  as  easy  and  as  fluent  as  that  of  Ovid,  but  is  grand, 
noble  and  stately;  but  in  his  ideas  and  lofty  senti- 
ments, Virgil  is  infinitely  superior  to  Ovid. 

In  modern  times  Virgil  has  been  severely  censured 

1  Dante,  Inferno,  I.:  "Lo  mio  maestro  et  lo  mio  autore" 

2  Odes  I,  3 :  animae  dimidium  meae. 

3  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  p.  415. 


388  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

—  for  not  being  Homer.  Indeed,  he  is  inferior  to 
Homer  in  many,  in  very  many  points.  But  let  it  not 
be  forgotten  that  his  epic  is  an  entirely  different 
species  of  poetry,  it  belongs  to  the  artistic  or  literary 
epic,  whereas  Homer.' s  is  primitive  epic.  Hence  it 
would  be  unfair  to  judge  both  according  to  the  same 
standard.  Virgil  is  an  imitator  of  Homer,  and  did  not 
come  up  to  his  master.  For  this  the  critics  censure 
him,  but  they  should  remember  the  words  of  Voltaire: 
"Homer  has  made  Virgil,  they  say;  if  this  be  true, 
it  is  undoubtedly  his  finest  work. ' ' l 

In  his  Eclogues  or  Pastorals  Virgil  imitates  the 
Greek  idyls  of  Theocritus.  But  he  is  not  as  varied, 
lively  and  natural  —  at  the  same  time  not  as  coarse  — 
as  his  Greek  model.  Theocritus'  Idyls  are  genuine 
Pastorals,  full  of  rural  simplicity  of  thought  and  un- 
adorned style,  whereas  Virgil's  Pastorals  are  rather 
political  allegories.  For  a  full  appreciation  they 
require  much  learning,  and  hence  they  are  less  fitted 
for  younger  boys.  The  first,  however,  and  above  all 
the  celebrated  fourth  Eclogue,  should  be  read.  On 
account  of  this  fourth  Eclogue,  the  poet  was  con- 
sidered as  a  prophet  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
mysterious  prediction  of  the  son,  with  whose  birth  — 
as  the  Sybils  foretold — ,  the  golden  age  was  to  return, 
naturally  reminds  us  of  the  prophetic  passages  of 
Isaias.  Virgil  evidently  refers  to  the  son  of  a  noble 
Roman,  most  probably  of  Asinius  Pollio;  but  it  is 
highly  probable  that  he  borrowed  the  idea  and  some 
details  from  Old  Testament  writings,  whose  contents, 
especially  the  expectation  of  a  Redeemer,  had  become 

1  Hom&re  a  fait  Virgile,  dit-on;  si  cela  est,  c'est  sans 
doute  son  plus  bel  ouvrage. 


SYU,ABUS  OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  389 

known  through  the  Jews  in  the  dispersion.1  Pope's 
Messiah,  a  Sacred  Eclogue,  should  be  read  in  connec- 
tion with  this  fourth  Eclogue  of  Virgil. 

The  four  books  of  the  Georgics  are  the  best  didactic 
production  in  Roman  literature.  They  have  been 
styled  poetical  essays  on  the  dignity  of  labor,  as  set 
against  the  warlike  glory,  that  was  the  popular  theme 
of  the  day.  This  is  Virgil's  most  characteristic  work, 
which  breathes  the  genuine  air  of  Italy.  The  lan- 
guage is  magnificent,  superior  to  that  of  the  Aeneid. 
The  work  abounds  in  beautiful  descriptions  and  con- 
tains charming  episodes.  It  is  not  advisable  to  read 
the  whole  work,  as  the  student  will  not  be  satisfied 
with  such  a  topic.  Select  passages,  however,  may  be 
studied  in  class,  especially  from  book  II,  and  book  IV 
(the  life  of  the  bees:  their  little  state,  character,  pur- 
suits, and  wars). 

Virgil7 s  greatest  work,  the  Aeneid ,  is  in  many 
points  an  imitation  of  both  Iliad  and  Odyssey;  but  in 
its  spirit  it  is  a  national  poem  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
word,  "a  reflection  and  an  echo  of  all  the  grandeur  of 
the  history  of  Rome,"  2  a  prophetia  post  factum.  By  a 
most  ingenious  device,  the  poet  succeeded  in  exhibit- 
ing, and,  as  it  were,  foreshadowing  the  greatness  of 
historical  Rome  in  its  legendary  history.  How  bold 
and  successful,  for  instance,  is  it  to  connect  the 
legendary  ancestor  of  the  Roman  rulers  with  Dido, 

1  See  Neue  Jahrbucherfur  das  klassische  Altertum  etc., 
1898,  vol.  I,  pp.  105 — 128:  "Bvery  unbiased  mind  must  admit 
that  Hellenistico  Jewish  sources  furnish  the  best  explanation 
of  this  eclogue."     Cf.  Isaias  11,  6-8.     L/actantius,  Div.  Inst., 
VII,  24,   11.  —  Josephus,   Bell.  Jud.,   VI,   312.  —  Suetonius, 
Vesp.,  4. 

2  Nagelsbach. 


39°  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  foundress  of  Carthage.  Her  imprecation:  "Exoriare 
aliquis  nostris  ex  ossibus  niter,"  is  the  most  clever  and 
most  poetical  conception  of  the  Punic  wars.  Then 
take  the  sixth  book,  where  Aeneas,  in  a  grand  vision, 
sees  all  the  future  splendor  and  glory  of  Rome,  and 
show  in  Homer's  poems,  or  in  any  other  work,  a 
passage  of  nobler,  more  majestic  and  more  poetical 
character.  It  is  true,  the  hero  of  the  poem,  Aeneas, 
does  not  inspire  the  reader.  He  lacks  the  fiery  passion 
and  impetuous  vigor  of  Achilles,  the  chivalrous  spirit 
of  Hector,  the  inventiveness  and  cunning  of  Odysseus. 
But  he  is  more  than  all  that:  he  is  the  chosen  instru- 
ment of  Divine  Providence  for  bringing  about  the 
greatest  achievement  in  human  history:  "the  settle- 
ment of  that  race  in  Italy,  from  which  were  to  spring 
the  founders  of  Rome."  Only  narrow  prejudice, 
therefore,  can  depreciate  Virgil's  immortal  work. 
Rightly  has  a  Jesuit  said:  "This  grand  picture 
warmed  with  strong  national  and  religious  enthusi- 
asm, elevated  by  the  consciousness  of  Roman  majesty 
and  dignity,  illumined  by  the  light  of  a  higher  world, 
outweighs  many  a  beautiful  passage  of  the  Iliad.  This 
is  not  merely  frosty  imitation,  not  studied  artifice,  this 
is  poetry,  as  it  can  well  forth  only  from  the  inspired 
heart  of  a  true  poet.  This  noble  idealism  and  genuine 
enthusiasm  is  the  soul  and  the  life-inspiring  principle 
of  the  whole  poem. ' '  * 

I  think  it  is  Nagelsbach  who  says,  that  every 
classical  scholar  should  study  carefully  all  the  works 
of  Virgil.  For  the  pupils,  of  course,  selections  must 
suffice.  But,  as  far  as  possible,  these  selections  should 
give  a  view  of  the  whole  poem.  The  I.  book,  the  II. 

1     Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  p.  436. 


SYI,IyABUS  OF  SCHOOIy  AUTHORS.  39! 

(compare  Lessing's  L,aokoon),  theV.,  and  above  all 
the  VI. ,  should  not  be  omitted.  In  reading  the  sixth 
book,  references  to  Dante's  Inferno  should  be  given 
throughout.  The  translation  of  Virgil  is  no  easy 
task;  it  ought  to  be  noble  and  dignified. 

HORACK  is  the  great  lyric  poet  of  Rome.  His 
Epistles  and  Satires,  carefully  selected,  make  good 
reading  for  Freshman  Class,  his  Odes  for  Sophomore. 
There  is  a  great  variety  in  his  poems.  All  show 
good  sense,  clear  judgment,  extraordinary  taste  and 
elegance.  His  descriptions  of  nature  are  true,  por- 
trait-like, vivid  and  very  effective.  With  the  greatest 
candor  he  opens  his  heart  to  his  friends,  without  dis- 
guising his  weaknesses.  His  shorter  poems  are  light, 
graceful  and  tender.  The  patriotic  Odes  are  very 
different.  They  show  the  poet's  aim  at  effecting  some 
large  social  or  political  purpose  and  consequently  rise 
to  a  grander  and  more  dignified  tone.  Although 
reckoning  himself  among  the  followers  of  Epicurus 
(Epicuri  de  grege  porcum),  he  rises  above  the  coarser 
tenets  of  that  school,  and  many  of  his  sayings  contain 
much  practical  wisdom.  He  is,  as  L,ord  L,ytton  says, 
the  most  " quotable"  of  authors.1  He  is  not  easy  of 
translation. 

The  comedies  of  PI^AUTUS  and  TKRKNCK,  as  Jou- 
vancy  says,  are  written  in  pure  L,atin,  but  contain 
many  impure  things,  for  which  reason  they  should  be 
studied  in  expurgated  editions.  This  point  is  strongly 
insisted  on  by  the  Ratio  Studiorurn. 

1  See  Father  Bauingartner's  sympathetic  sketch,  vol.  IHj 
pp.  437—457. 


392  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

§  4.     Greek  Prose  Writers. 

Before  speaking  of  the  Greek  authors,  it  may  be 
well  to  make  a  few  observations  of  fundamental  im- 
port. There  is  a  difference  between  the  study  of 
Greek  and  of  L,atin,  which  seems  to  be  well  expressed 
in  the  ' 'Prussian  School  Order"  of  1892  and  1901. 
There  we  find  as  the  object  of  studying  L,atin:  "The 
understanding  of  the  principal  authors  and  logical 
training; "  as  the  object  of  the  study  of  Greek:  "The 
understanding  of  the  principal  classical  authors. ' '  A 
similar  distinction  was  made  centuries  ago  by  the 
Jesuits.  As  early  as  1669  Father  Fabri  wrote:  "To 
write  and  to  speak  Greek  is  not  necessary.  An  edu- 
cated man  must,  according  to  the  adage,  speak  L,atin, 
understand  Greek,  and  read  Hebrew.  Latine  loqua- 
tur,  Graece  intelligat,  Hebraice  legal."  1  It  is  evident  that 
the  study  of  Greek  contributes  also  to  the  logical 
training  of  the  mind,  but  it  ought  not  to  be  sought  so 
directly  as  in  Latin.  The  Latin  language  with  its 
rigorous  syntax  seems  to  be  better  fitted  for  that  pur- 
pose. It  is  different  with  Greek.  In  a  former  chap- 
ter,2 we  mentioned  that  Latin  grammar  was  eminently 
logic,  and  its  study  a  course  of  applied  logic.  "Greek 
on  the  other  hand,  might  almost  be  called  a  course  of 
aesthetics,  by  means  of  which  we  learn  to  distinguish 
a  thousand  gradations  of  meaning  which  our  barbarous 
languages  will  not  allow  us  to  accentuate. ' ' 3  How- 
ever, the  principal  object  of  the  study  of  Greek  is  the 

1  Fabri,  Euphyander  (1689).  —  Chossat,  Les  Jesuites  a 
Avignon,  p.  286. 

2  Chapter  XII,  Classical  Studies*  p.  347. 

3  Dr.   Karl    Hildebrand ;    see    The  Month,    1886,    Feb., 
p.  167. 


SYW,ABUS  OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  393 

reading  of  the  Greek  classics.  "The  Greeks  are  for 
us  not  one  of  the  civilized  nations  of  antiquity,  but  the 
civilized  nation  (das  Kulturvolk),  which  has  given  us 
the  models  for  all  kinds  of  literary  productions. ' ' l 
And  Father  Baumgartner  observes:  "The  intellectual 
culture  of  the  Greeks  became  a  power  which  not  only 
survived  their  political  decadence,  but  for  all  coming 
centuries  exercised  a  decisive  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  world's  culture."  2 

In  order  to  attain  this  object  of  the  study  of  Greek, 
the  reading  of  authors  should  be  begun  as  soon  as 
possible.  Etymology  should  be  limited  to  the  essen- 
tials occurring  in  the  authors  which  form  the  staple 
reading  in  colleges.  The  old  grammars  contain  many 
forms  which  never  or  quite  exceptionally  are  met  with 
in  the  course  of  reading.  To  this  class  belong  many 
rare  forms  of  declension,  comparison,  exceptional 
augments  and  reduplications,  and,  above  all,  numerous 
irregular  verbs.  They  should  be  left  out,  as  has  been 
done  in  the  best  modern  grammars.3  The  Jesuits 
always  favored  brief  textbooks,  "perquam  breves,"  says 
a  document  in  1829.*  This  was  in  accordance  with 
their  fundamental  principle:  Pauca  praecepta,  multa 
exempla,  exercitatio  plurima. 

Greek  syntax  may  at  first  not  be  taught  system- 
atically but  inductively,  incidentally,  as  the  rules  are 

1  Dettweiler,  Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  Griechischen, 
p.  11. 

2  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  p.  5. 

3  Perhaps  one  of    the  best  modern    grammars   is  the 
Small  Greek  Grammar  by  Professor  Kaegi,  which  has  been 
recently  translated  into  English  by  J.  Kleist,  >S.  J.     (Herder, 
St.  I/mis,  1902.) 

4  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  404. 


394  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

met  with  in  reading.  Then  the  various  rules  are  to  be 
put  together  systematically.  Important  rules  (the  use 
of  Subjunctive  and  Optative,  the  position  of  the  article, 
and  the  like)  should  be  learned  with  the  practice  of 
the  forms.  The  various  conditional  clauses,  the 
meaning  of  tenses  (especially  of  the  Aorist),  and  the 
use  of  the  participles  must  be  well  explained.  These 
points  are  the  whole  Greek  Syntax  in  nuce.1  The 
study  of  vocables  should  be  a  direct  preparation  for 
the  future  reading  of  authors.  Many  vocables,  found 
in  exercise-books  in  vogue  during  the  last  century, 
are  altogether  useless  to  this  end.  This  evil  arose 
from  the  system  of  confining  Greek  reading  for  two 
years  to  translating  unconnected  sentences.  According 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Ratio,  the  reading  of  connected 
pieces,  easy  narratives  and  easy  authors,  should  be 
begun  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  best  author  to  begin  with  is  XKNOPHON.  For 
the  sweetness  and  graceful  simplicity  of  his  language 
he  was  styled  the  "Attic  Bee. "  In  former  times  his 
Cyropaedia  was  the  favorite  book,  also  in  Jesuit  col- 
leges. But  this  work  is  not  as  easy,  nor  as  interesting 
as  the  Anabasis.  The  Anabasis^  or  The  Retreat  of  the 
Ten  Thousand ,  is  a  book  most  fit  for  youth,2  and  a 
good  preparation  for  Herodotus.  The  speeches  which 
are  interwoven  with  the  narrative  prepare  for  the 
reading  of  Demosthenes.  The  geographical  and  eth- 
nographical details  about  Asia  Minor  will  prove  use- 

1  "Also  the  epic  dialect  should  not  be  studied  systemat- 
ically before  reading  Homer,  but  incidentally,  and  afterwards 
systematized."     {Prussian  School  Order.) 

2  "Bin  rechtes  Jugendbuch."     Dr.  Dettweiler.     See  this 
author  on  Xenophon,  Didaktik  des  Griechischeny  p.  29 ;  also 
Willmaim's  Didaktik,  vol.  II,  p.  519. 


SYI^ABUS  OF  SCHOOIy  AUTHORS.  395 

ful  for  the  study  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (Travels  of 
St.  Paul)  and  of  the  Crusades.  Books  I— IV  should 
be  read  with  maps,  and  with  the  plans  of  battles 
drawn  on  paper  or  on  the  blackboard.  If  this  is  done, 
and  the  reading  is  not  too  slow,  the  boys  will  take  a 
real  interest  in  the  clear  and  simple  narrative  of  battles 
and  marches  through  the  countries  of  hostile  tribes. 
Boys  delight  in  warfare  and  travels.  —  Whether  the 
Memorabilia  should  be  read  is  questionable,  as  a  better 
picture  of  Socrates  will  afterwards  be  given  in  Plato's 
works.  After  the  Anabasis  selections  may  be  read 
from  the  Cyropaedia  and  the  Hellenica. 

HERODOTUS,  the  "Father  of  History",  as  Cicero 
styles  him,  is  a  most  attractive  author.  He  seems  not 
to  have  been  read  in  the  colleges  of  the  Old  Society. 
In  modern  times,  in  many  plans  of  study,  he  receives 
more  attention ;  some  selections  may  well  be  read, 
especially  such  stories  as  have  been  taken  into  the 
literatures  of  all  civilized  nations.  In  their  original 
garb  they  will  exercise  a  special  charm  on  account  of 
their  naive  character. 

THUCYDIDKS,  the  "Father  of  Pragmatic  and  Politi- 
cal History,"  wrote  the  history  of  the  first  part  of  the 
Peloponnesian  War.  He  ranks  very  high  as  historian, 
being  distinguished  for  critical  spirit,  accurate  re- 
search, and  severe  impartiality.  His  style  is  concise, 
often  so  concise  as  to  degenerate  into  obscurity.  This 
conciseness  and  the  depth  of  thought  make  him  a 
difficult  author  for  young  students.  In  the  highest 
class,  choice  passages  may  be  read :  v.  g.  the  plague 
in  Athens,  the  funeral  oration  of  Pericles.  Demos- 
thenes was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  harangues  of 
Thucydides,  and  the  two  great  Roman  historians, 
Sallust  and  Tacitus,  have  taken  him  for  their  model. 


396  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

PiyATo.  Plato  is  recommended  in  the  Ratio  as  one 
of  the  authors  for  Rhetoric  class ;  in  modern  Jesuit 
colleges  Plato  is  mostly  read  in  Freshman  class,  for 
which  he  is  an  excellent  author.  In  the  words  of  a 
Jesuit  critic,  ''Greek  philosophy  is  one  of  the  choicest 
fruits  of  Greek  culture  which,  together  with  Greek 
poetry,  history  and  oratory,  was  destined  to  form  the 
basis  of  the  culture  of  the  Western  nations."  l  Plato, 
one  of  the  greatest  thinkers  of  all  ages,  vaguely  felt 
and  presaged  some  of  the  grand  religious  and  moral 
truths  which  were  to  be  clearly  revealed  by  Christ. 
Thus  he  became  the  Traidaywyfc  els  Xpurr6v.  No  philoso- 
pher, in  fact  no  writer  of  antiquity,  exerted  a  greater 
influence  on  the  early  Christian  writers.  His  many 
errors,  mixed  with  some  Christian  truth,  gave  rise  to 
numerous  heresies  in  the  earlier  centuries,  and  misled 
even  gigantic  intellects  like  that  of  Origen.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  Father  Baumgartner  observes,  "numer- 
ous minds,  searching  after  truth,  have  through  his 
writings  been  raised  out  of  the  depths  of  materialism 
to  the  purer  heights  of  idealistic  speculations. ' '  2 

In  Plato,  there  is,  in  the  words  of  his  disciple 
Aristotle,  "a  middle  species  of  diction,  between  prose 
and  verse,"  and  Cicero  said:  "If  Jupiter  were  to  speak 
in  the  Greek  tongue,  he  would  use  the  language  of 
.Plato."3  Some  of  his  dialogues  are  so  sublime,  so 
harmonious,  so  rhythmical,  that  they  may  truly  be 

1  Father  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  page  268.     Further  ref- 
erences  see   in    Histories    of    Philosophy,   v.   g.    by   Zeller, 
Brandis,  Ueberweg,  Windelband;  Willnianu,  Geschichte  des 
Idealismus.      Dollinger,     The   Gentile  and  the  Jew,  vol.  I, 
pp.  304—332. 

2  Father  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  p.  277. 

3  Brutus  31  \  Orator  M. 


SYI^ABUS  OF  SCHOOIv  AUTHORS.  397 

styled  poetical.  There  are  not  many  which,  both  for 
contents  and  style,  can  be  read  in  colleges.  Best 
suited  for  this  purpose  are  the  Apology  and  Crito. 
The  Apology,  or  Defense  of  Socrates,  the  only  work  of 
Plato  which  is  not  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  probabty 
contains  the  substance  of  the  answer  Socrates  made  to 
the  insidious  charges  of  his  accusers.  The  tone  is 
throughout  fearless,  at  times  even  defiant,  the  accused 
merely  pleading  that,  whatever  he  did,  was  done  at 
the  bidding  of  the  divinity,  who  spoke  to  him  through 
a  mysterious  inner  voice,  and  that  all  his  doings  were 
directed  towards  improving  the  minds  and  morals  of 
his  fellow-citizens.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  grand  and 
elevating  reading.  A  Jesuit  professor  and  distin- 
guished critic,  Father  Stiglmayr,  wrote  recently: 
"What  a  pity,  if  youths  should  no  longer  drink  in- 
spiration from  such  a  source ! ' ' 1 

In  the  Crito  we  find  Socrates  in  prison,  during  the 
interval  between  his  condemnation  and  death.  Crito 
advises  him  to  fly,  Socrates  refuses,  "as  it  was  not 
allowed  a  good  citizen  to  withdraw  from  proper  author- 
ity and  violate  the  laws  of  the  state. ' '  The  dialogue 
contains  very  fine  passages. 

The  Phaedo  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  Plato's 
dialogues.  It  relates  a  conversation  held  shortly  before 
the  death  of  Socrates,  in  which  the  great  Athenian 
undertakes  to  prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The 
last  chapters  narrate  in  a  touching  manner,  how,  when 

1  A  beautiful  appreciation  of  the  Apology  is  given  by 
this  Professor  in  two  articles  in  the  Stimmen  aus  Maria- 
Laachy  vol.  TyXII,  1902.  —  Professor  Bristol,  in  his  Teaching 
of  Greek  in  the  Secondary  Schoolt  thinks  the  Apology  not  a 
suitable  introduction  to  the  study  of  Plato.  His  arguments 
are  not  convincing. 


398  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  summons  came,  Socrates  with  much  composure 
and  tranquillity  of  mind,  drank  the  fatal  cup,  in  the 
midst  of  his  weeping  friends.  This  dialogue  may  be 
read,  as  Nagelsbach  says,  with  a  good  class  of  students. 
It  is  always  advisable  to  read  the  Apology,  then  the 
Crito,  and  finally  the  last  chapters  of  the  Phaedo. 
Thus  the  students  will  get  a  clear  picture  of  the  whole 
life  and  the  heroic  death  of  the  most  remarkable  man 
of  antiquity. 

DEMOSTHENES.  Rhetorical  talent  was  a  gift  com- 
mon to  all  Greeks.  The  splendid  speeches  in  Homer's 
poems  are  not  accidental  fictions,  but  the  expressions 
of  old  traditions,  of  national  manners  and  peculiarities. 
The  diplomatic  Agamemnon,  the  subtle  Odysseus,  the 
passionate  Achilles,  the  conciliatory  Nestor  are  oratori- 
cal types  which  were  renewed  in  the  life  of  the  Greeks 
from  generation  to  generation. l  Greek  oratory  reached 
its  zenith  in  Demosthenes,  the  ' 'prince  of  orators". 
The  Ratio  Studiorum  assigns  his  masterly  orations  to 
the  highest  class  of  the  literary  curriculum,  which  is, 
indeed,  the  proper  place  for  this  author.  One  or 
other  of  the  Olynthiacs  or  Philippics  should  be  studied, 
as  was  done  early  in  Jesuit  colleges.  It  may  be 
questioned  whether  it  is  possible  to  do  justice  to  the 
oration  On  the  Crown,  except  with  a  very  good  class 
of  pupils.  This  speech  is  not  only  the  masterpiece  of 
Demosthenes,  but  is  regarded  as  the  most  perfect 
specimen  that  eloquence  has  ever  produced. 

A  word  must  here  be  said  on  the  reading  of  the 
GREEK  NEW  TESTAMENT.  Professor  Bristol  says  that 
the  present  ignorance  of  the  Greek  New  Testament  on 

1  See  Father  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  p.  257.  —  As  a  con- 
firmation of  this  statement  take  the  IX.  book  of  the  Iliad  with 
its  magnificent  speeches. 


SYU,ABUS  OF  SCHOOIv  AUTHORS.  399 

the  part  of  the  people  who  have  had  a  classical  educa- 
tion is  little  short  of  disgrace,  and  he  wishes  that  it 
should  be  read  an  hour  a  week.1  This  is  exactly  what 
was  done  in  many  colleges  of  the  Old  Society,  as  may 
be  seen  from  Father  Kropf's  programme  of  1736,  in 
which  the  reading  of  the  Greek  Gospel  (chiefly  that  of 
St.  L,uke),  is  prescribed  for  every  Saturday  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  classes,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  for 
Rhetoric  (Sophomore).2 

§  5.     Greek  Poets. 

HOMKR  is  "the  Father  of  Poetry."  He  was  truly 
the  "educator  of  Greece"  and  influenced  the  literature 
of  all  coming  ages  as  no  other  writer  ever  has  done. 
To  dwell  on  his  excellence,  would  merely  be,  as  the 
Greek  adage  has  it,  y\a\)K  ets  f A^ws.  The  Odyssey  and 
Iliad  should  be  read  so  as  to  give  the  pupil  a  perfect 
view  of  the  whole.  There  are  but  few  passages  which 
cannot  be  read  with  boys.  Homer  is  very  naive  and 
outspoken,  as,  in  general,  ancient  literature  is  more 
honest,  direct,  and  straightforward  than  modern  lit- 
erature, which  often  merely  suggests  what  is  offensive. 
But  this  very  suggestiveness  makes  modern  writings 
more  insidious,  as  the  mind  is  set  thinking  to  find  out 
what  is  meant.  Homer  is  never  licentious  ;  the  song 
in  the  Odyssey  which  is  most  objectionable  is  put  into 
the  mouth  of  another  bard,  and  even  in  this  song  there 
is  no  glorification  of  sin,  no  mistake  as  to  what  is  right 
or  wrong.  This  straightforwardness  in  delicate  mat- 
ters must  not  offend  the  mature  reader,  or  he  must  also 

1  The  Teaching  of  Greek  in  the  Secondary  School,   pp. 
267—268. 

2  Kropf  in  Herder's  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Padago- 
gik,  vol.  X,  pp.  341-344.  —  See  above  pp.  123—124. 


400  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

object  to  Holy  Scripture.  It  is  evident  that  not  all 
passages  of  Scripture  are  to  be  read  by  the  young,  no 
more  than  many  of  the  profane  writers.  As  to  Homer, 
Jouvancy  says  very  appositely:  "A  few  comparisons 
which  are  somewhat  low,  and  other  traces  of  primeval 
simplicity  and  of  a  naivete  no  longer  known,  must  not 
shock  any  one.  Kvery  sensible  reader  will  also  make 
allowances  for  the  lies  and  other  crimes  which  the 
pagan  writer  imputes  to  his  gods. " l  If  single  lines 
with  rather  objectionable  contents  occur,  the  only  way 
is  to  translate  them  correctly,  but  in  careful  and  decent 
expressions,  which  have  to  be  thought  out  beforehand; 
to  omit  them  would  almost  surely  lead  some  pupils  to 
study  them  out  at  home.  To  give  a  wrong  translation 
is  dishonest,  and  '  'the  end  does  not  justify  the  means. ' ' 
Besides,  as  all  sorts  of  translations  may  be  had  from 
our  public  libraries,  and  actually  are  in  the  hands  of 
the  students,  such  a  fraud  would  be  detected  and 
would  surely  undermine  the  confidence  of  the  pupils 
in  their  teacher.  When  the  first  passage  is  met  with, 
the  teacher  may  call  attention  to  the  above  mentioned 
characteristics  of  ancient  literature,  sacred  as  well  as 
profane.  If  a  few  prudent  and  grave  remarks  of  this 
kind  are  made,  the  pupils  will  not  surfer  any  harm 
from  such  reading. 

We  have  said  above  that  the  epic  dialect  is  to  be 
studied  inductively.  When  the  first  difficulties  are 
overcome,  the  pupils  will  begin  to  like  Homer,  pro- 
vided the  teacher  is  what  he  ought  to  be.  The  intro- 
ductions of  the  Odyssey  and  Iliad,  as  also  other  pas- 
sages from  Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  should  be  learned 

1  'Ratio  Disc.,  ch.  I,  art.  1,  §  2.  — See  also  Nagelsbach's 
Homeric  Theology. 


SYI^ABUS  OF  SCHOOL  AUTHORS.  401 

by  heart.  As  of  Virgil's  Aeneid,  so  also  of  the  Odyssey 
and  Iliad,  the  whole  cannot  be  studied.  But  care 
should  be  taken  that  the  selections  are  such  as  to  give 
the  pupils  a  clear  view  of  the  whole  work.1  The 
translation  of  Homer  must  be  simple  and  natural. 
Anglo-Saxon  words  ought  to  prevail. 2  It  has  been 
previously  stated,  and  it  is  self-evident,  that  the  teach- 
ing of  antiquities,  descriptions  of  the  life  and  manners 
of  the  heroic  age,  should  accompany  the  reading  of 
Homer. 3 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  the  GREEK  TRAGE- 
DIES, and  their  importance  for  the  higher  classes  of 
the  literary  curriculum.  The  Ratio  does  not  mention 
them  in  particular ;  but  Sophocles  and  Euripides  are 
recommended  by  Jouvancy,  and  they  were  read  in  the 
colleges,  as  appears  from  the  catalogues  given  on 
previous  pages. 4  —  The  amount  of  the  world's  best 
literature,  with  which  the  student  in  the  Jesuit 
Colleges  was  made  acquainted,  is  certainly  not  in- 
significant. 

1  Professor  Bristol,  in  his  excellent  work  The  Teaching 
of  Greek  in  the  Secondary  School,  suggests  that  books  IX — 
XII  of  the  Odyssey  should  be  read  first,  then  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII, 
and  part  of  book  XIII.    I  must  confess  that  such  an  inversion 
seems  not  advisable.     Why  not  follow  the  author?     I  doubt 
also  whether   of  book  I.  not  more  than  the  first  79  verses 
should  be  read.     The  whole  first  book  is  interesting  and  im- 
portant for  the  correct  appreciation  of  the  whole. 

2  A  good  help  for  class  translation  is  found  in  the  prose 
translation  of  the  Odyssey  by  Butcher  and  I/ang ;  of  the  Iliad 
by  L,ang,  Myers  and  L,eaf. 

3  Works  by  Jebb,   Gladstone,   Mahaffy,   Grote,   Nagels- 
bach,  etc   —  A  splendid  literary  appreciation  of  the  Iliad  and 
Odyssey ',  see  Baumgartner,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  19 — 63. 

4  See  pp.  373 — 374 ;  see  also  Baumgartner,   vol.  Ill,  pp. 
133—244. 

26 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Scholarship  and  Teaching. 

The  aim  proposed  by  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  a  great 
and  noble  one,  which  tasks  the  undivided  energy  of 
able  and  experienced  men.  Does  the  Society  fit  the 
teachers  for  this  work?  This  is  a  most  important 
question.  However  good  and  excellent  a  system  may 
be,  it  is  of  little  avail  if  the  teachers  know  not  how  to 
apply  it,  or  if  they  apply  it  badly.  Professor  Miinster- 
berg  rightly  insists  on  the  truth  that  all  effective  school 
reform  must  start  with  a  reform  of  teachers.  '  'Just  as 
it  has  been  said  that  war  needs  three  things,  money, 
money,  and  again  money,  so  it  can  be  said  with  much 
greater  truth  that  education  needs,  not  forces  and 
buildings,  not  pedagogy  and  demonstrations,  but  only 
men,  men,  and  again  men,  —  without  forbidding  that 
some,  not  too  many  of  them,  shall  be  women.  The 
right  kind  of  men  is  what  the  schools  need ;  they  have 
the  wrong  kind.  They  need  teachers  whose  interest 
in  the  subject  would  banish  all  drudgery,  and  they 
have  teachers  whose  pitiable  unpreparedness  makes 
the  class  work  either  so  superficial  that  the  pupils  do 
not  learn  anything,  or,  if  it  is  taken  seriously,  so  dry 
and  empty  that  it  is  a  vexation  for  children  and 
teachers  alike.  To  produce  anything  equivalent  to 
the  teaching  staff  from  whose  guidance  I  benefited  in 
my  boyhood,  no  one  ought  to  be  allowed  to  teach  in 
a  grammar  school  who  has  not  passed  through  a  col- 
lege or  a  good  normal  school ;  no  one  ought  to  teach 

(402) 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TKACHING.  403 

in  a  high  school  who  has  not  worked,  after  his  college 
course,  at  least  two  years  in  the  graduate  school  of  a 
good  university;  no  one  ought  to  teach  in  a  college 
who  has  not  taken  his  doctor's  degree  in  one  of  the 
best  universities;  and  no  one  ought  to  teach  in  a 
graduate  school  who  has  not  shown  his  mastery  of 
method  by  powerful  scientific  publications.  We  have 
instead  a  misery  which  can  be  characterized  by  one 
statistical  fact :  only  two  per  cent  of  the  school 
teachers  possess  any  degree  whatever. ' ' l 

It  would  certainly  be  an  ideal  state,  if  all  teachers 
came  up  to  the  Professor's  requirements,  as  laid  down 
in  this  proposition ;  but  one  may  justly  object  to  the 
importance  assigned  to  the  doctor's  degree  and  the 
scientific  publications,  as  necessary  requisites  for 
teaching.  Although  this  degree  and  productive 
scholarship  are  very  desirable,  still  we  must  consider 
it  a  mistake  to  expect  from  them  alone  or  even  chiefly 
the  men  needed  in  our  educational  institutions.  The 
present  writer,  in  his  own  school  days,  had  some 
teachers  who  neither  possessed  the  doctor's  degree  — 
of  course  they  all  had  undergone  the  "  State  examina- 
tions" —  nor  had  published  any  books,  and  yet  as 
teachers  were  far  superior  to  others  who  possessed  the 
doctor's  degree  and  had  published  books.  Scholarship 
and  capability  for  teaching  are  by  no  means  identical. 
Too  much  weight  has  been  given  of  late  to  scholarship 
in  preference  to  practical  experience,  combined,  as  is 
understood,  with  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  matter 
to  be  taught.  The  documents  of  the  Society  insist 
strongly  that  the  teacher  should  thoroughly  master  the 
subject  which  he  is  to  teach.  Father  L,edesma  wrote 

1     Atlantic  Monthly,  "May  1900,  p.  667. 


404  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

three  hundred  years  ago  :  "In  all  classes  the  teachers 
should  be  such  that  they  could  teach  a  much  higher 
class"  [than  that  which  is  actually  assigned  to  them],1 
and  Father  Nadal  said  :  "All  the  professors  should  be 
distinguished  in  their  respective  branches,  and  no  one 
can  teach  in  the  classes  of  Humanities  and  Rhetoric 
(Freshman  and  Sophomore)  who  is  not  a  Master  of 
Arts. " 2  In  these  words  Father  Nadal  virtually  lays 
down  as  a  postulate  what  Professor  Miinsterberg  wants, 
namely,  that  the  professors  in  the  college  course  should 
have  the  doctor's  degree.  But  the  Society  attached 
still  greater  weight  to  skill  in  teaching  than  scholar- 
ship, and  we  think  rightly  so. 

Within  the  last  two  years  this  question  of  the  re- 
lation of  scholarship  to  teaching  has  received  more 
attention  than  before,  and  some  articles  in  leading 
reviews  and  periodicals  found  one  of  the  reasons  of  the 
decline  of  teaching  exactly  in  the  excess  of  scholarship. 
It  was  especially  the  New  York  Nation  which  in  the 
spring  of  1900  brought  the  topic  before  the  eyes  of  the 
public.  On  March  8,  1900,  the  Nation  had  an  editorial 
011  The  Decline  of  Teaching,  in  which  we  find  this 
statement:  "It  is  at  least  a  curious  coincidence  that 
the  development  of  the  modern  science  of  pedagogy, 
with  its  array  of  physiological  and  psychological  data, 
should  have  been  accompanied  by  a  distinct  decline 
in  the  prominence  of  the  teacher.  No  one,  we  sup- 
pose, will  question  that  the  number  of  great  teachers 
is  less  now  than  it  once  was,  and  that  the  depleted 
ranks  are  not  being  adequately  filled  up.  While  this 
dearth  of  teaching  power,  notwithstanding  the  persis- 

1  Monumenta  Paedagogica,  p.  156. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  104. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TEACHING.  405 

tent  efforts  to  overcome  it,  is  characteristic  of  all  de- 
partments of  education,  it  is  especially  noticeable  in 
the  colleges  and  universities ;  perhaps  in  no  single 
respect,  indeed,  does  the  average  college  of  the  present 
day  contrast  more  sharply  with  the  college  of  a  genera- 
tion or  two  ago."  On  March  22,  the  Nation  published 
the  following  correspondence.  "Your  editorial  upon 
the  Decline  of  Teaching  ought  to  arouse  very  general 
solicitude  throughout  the  profession  :  it  gives  notable 
emphasis  to  the  condition  which  some  of  us  have  per- 
ceived for  several  years,  although,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  stress  has  not  hitherto  been  laid  upon  it  in  any 
public  way.  Your  statement  of  the  facts  implies, 
without  directly  asserting,  both  the  magnitude  of  the 
evil  and  its  causes.  Possibly  both  of  these  should 
receive,  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  more  extended 
and  more  exhaustive  consideration.  ...  In  the  upper 
schools  —  high  schools  and  colleges  —  the  evil  which 
has  brought  about  the  decline  of  teaching  is  an  entire- 
ly different  one.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  pseudo- 
pedagogy  has  won  any  hold  on  these  men,  except  as 
subjects  for  wise  admonitions  to  elementary  teachers. 
The  evil  here  is  that  original  research  has  been  con- 
founded with  true  teaching.  Original  research  is  an 
independent  profession,  worthy  of  all  honor  and  re- 
spect, but  its  processes  are  not  in  any  essential  or 
fundamental  way  those  of  education.  We  can  never 
bring  back  to  our  colleges  the  nobler  ideals  of  character 
and  culture  until  we  separate  them  from  an  ideal 
which  is  purely  that  of  a  trade  or  profession.  We 
should  have  a  very  analogous  confusion  if  our  lawyers 
were  to  contend  that  education  consisted  in  mastering 
the  process  and  methods  of  the  law.  In  so  far  as  our 


406  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

colleges  are  converted  into  workshops  where  'the 
bounds  of  knowledge'  are  widened,  their  real  and 
greater  function  becomes  restricted,  if  not  forgotten."1 
Dean  Briggs  of  Harvard  College  shortly  after  wrote  as 
follows:  "Another  doubt  about  the  new-fashioned 
education  concerns  the  abnormal  value  set  on  the 
higher  degrees.  That  a  teacher  should  know  his 
subject  is  obvious;  but  the  man  of  intelligence  and 
self-sacrifice  who  bends  his  energy  to  teaching  boys 
will  soon  get  enough  scholarship  for  the  purpose  ; 
whereas  no  amount  of  scholarship  can  make  up  for 
the  want  of  intelligence  and  self-sacrifice. ' ' 2 

Many  years  ago  Arnold  had  expressed  the  same 
opinion.  In  a  letter  of  inquiry  for  a  master  he  wrote : 
"What  I  want  is  a  Christian  and  a  gentleman  —  an 
active  man,  and  one  who  has  common  sense  and 
understands  boys.  I  do  not  so  much  care  about 
scholarship,  as  he  will  have  immediately  under  him 
the  lowest  forms  [classes]  in  the  school ;  but  yet,  on 
second  thoughts,  I  do  care  about  it  very  much,  because 
his  pupils  may  be  in  the  highest  forms ;  and  besides, 
I  think  that  even  the  elements  are  best  taught  by  a 
man  who  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  matter. 
However,  if  one  must  give  way,  I  prefer  activity  of 
mind  and  an  interest  in  his  work  to  high  scholarship, 
for  the  one  can  be  acquired  more  easily  than  the 
other/'3 

The  views  of  prominent  German  educators  are  not 
less  pronounced  on  this  subject  —  and  yet,  no  nation 
insists  more  on  scholarship  than  the  German.  Says 

1  Mr.  Frederick  Whitton,  Michigan  Military  Academy. 

2  Atlantic  Monthly,  October  1900. 

3  Fitch,  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold ',  p.  69. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TEACHING.  407 

one:  "We  have  no  more  educators  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word. ' ' 1  The  opinion  of  Professor  Paulsen  is 
especially  worthy  of  notice.  We  summarize  what  he 
says  on  this  subject  in  his  History  of  Higher  Educa- 
tion. It  cannot  be  doubted  that  scholarship  of  the 
teacher,  as  a  rule,  tends  towards  raising  teaching. 
But  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  success  of  a 
teacher  depends  not  only  upon  the  amount  of  his 
scientific  knowledge,  but  as  much  on  his  inclination 
and  practical  skill  for  teaching.  Do  the  latter  qual- 
ities increase  in  proportion  with  the  teacher's  scholar- 
ship? This  is  not  always  the  case.  It  should  be 
expected  that,  the  richer,  the  clearer  and  the  deeper 
the  knowledge  is,  the  stronger  the  inclination,  and  the 
facility  of  imparting  it  to  others.  But  between  philo- 
logical scholarship  proper  and  elementary  instruction 
in  L,atin  grammar  and  style,  we  find  rather  the  reverse 
proportion.  Scholarship  can  become  an  obstacle  to 
teaching.  First,  it  weakens  the  liking  for  it,  or  rather 
it  strengthens  the  aversion  to  it.  For  the  "drilling" 
in  the  elements  of  a  language  is  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  least  attractive  tasks  to  a  man  who  feels  in  himself 
an  inclination  to  educate  the  souls  of  the  young.  — 
Secondly,  scholarship  easily  leads  to  introducing  into 
class-instruction  things  that  are  important  for  the 
teacher's  own  scientific  grasp  of  the  subject.  Hence 
the  common  complaint :  the  more  grammar  and  the 
study  of  antiquities  increase,  and  the  more  deeply  the 
teachers  enter  into  these  sciences,  the  less  the  pupils 
learn ;  or  rather  the  more  the  pupils  learn  of  these 
things,  the  less  thoroughness  and  facility  they  acquire 

1     Lehmann,    Erziehung  und  Erzieher,    Berlin,    Weid- 
mann,  1901.  —  Neue  Jahrbiicher,  1901,  vol.  VIII,  p.  237. 


408  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

in  reading  and  writing ;  but  this  last  is  exactly  what 
they  need.  From  this  it  appears  that  it  was  in  part 
disadvantageous  to  replace  theologians  in  the  gymnasia 
by  philologians  and  mathematicians,  a  change  which 
for  a  long  time  was  wished  for,  undoubtedly  not  with- 
out good  reasons.  The  theologian,  owing  to  his  whole 
training,  had  a  tendency  towards  caring  for  the  souls  ; 
an  interest  in  the  whole  man  was  the  centre  of  his 
calling,  —  if  indeed  he  was  an  honest  theologian,  — 
not  an  interest  in  science,  nor  an  interest  in  the  student 
as  student.  Everything  leads  the  theologian  and  the 
true  philosopher  to  be  an  educator ;  the  scholar,  the 
learned  specialist,  may  content  himself  with  being  an 
instructor.  Add  to  this  that  the  theologian  through 
his  studies  was  everywhere  led  to  view  things  philo- 
sophically. And,  after  all,  it  is  philosophy  and  religion 
alone  that  impel  a  man  to  communicate  what  he  knows. 
He  who  has  no  philosophic  views  of  life  and  of  the 
world,  has  nothing  to  communicate ;  it  is  only  the 
relation  to  some  such  ultimate  object  which  gives 
learning  pedagogical  power  and  motives. 1  Be  it  re- 
membered that  the  man  who  says  this  is  no  ecclesias- 
tic, but  a  layman,  one  of  the  foremost  professors  of  the 
University  of  Berlin. 

In  his  latest  important  work,2  he  speaks  still  more 
emphatically  on  the  drawbacks  and  dangers  that  men- 
ace teaching,  even  in  the  university,  from  scholarship. 
The  professor,  he  says,  considers  himself  in  the  first 
place  not  so  much  a  teacher  as  a  scholar,  as  the  man 

1  Geschichte    des  gelehrten    Unterrichts,    pp.    628—629. 
(2nd  ed.,  vol.  II,  pp.  389—391.) 

2  Die   deutschen    Universitdten  und   das    Universitats- 
Studium,  Berlin  1902,  pp.  213—222. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TEACHING.  409 

of  science,  and  so  scientific  research  appears  to  him 
nobler  and  more  important  than  instruction.  Con- 
sequently, it  happens  very  easily  that  he  becomes 
indifferent  about  perfecting  himself  as  teacher,  he 
devotes  scarcely  the  necessary  time  to  preparing  his 
lectures,  he  loses  interest  in  teaching,  which  is  an 
unwelcome  interruption  of  his  researches.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  no  great  success  is  to  be  expected  from  such 
teaching  or  lecturing.  There  are  also  dangers  on  the 
part  of  the  students.  Not  unfrequently  they  are  intro- 
duced too  early  to  the  specialized  treatment  of  the 
sciences,  before  they  have  acquired  general  information 
about  their  subject.  This  danger  is  the  greatest  for 
the  most  talented  and  zealous  students.  If  afterwards 
they  are  teachers  in  a  gymnasium,  they  feel  altogether 
out  of  place;  nearly  all  they  had  to  study  in  the  univer- 
sity is  inapplicable  in  this  present  position,  and  it  takes 
very  long  before  the  mental  equilibrium  is  found  again. 
The  author  then  points  out  the  dangers  for  science. 
If  manifestation  of  scholarship  is  required  for  obtain- 
ing a  position  as  teacher,  the  unavoidable  consequence 
will  be  a  kind  of  *  'pseudo-productivity' '  and  other  evils. 
Of  recent  utterances  from  England  the  following 
of  the  Hon.  George  C.  Brodrick  (Warden  of  Merton) 
will  suffice.  In  an  article,  " Amateur  Nation,"  he 
says:  "Strange  to  say,  the  higher  branches  of  the 
great  educational  profession  in  England  are  strong- 
holds of  amateurism.  The  masters  and  mistresses  of 
elementary  schools  are  now  well  trained,  and  even 
when  they  teach  mechanically,  they  teach  as  persons 
who  have  grasped  the  difficulties  of  teaching,  and 
mean  business,  as  most  professionals  do.  But  what  of 
masters  at  the  great  public  schools,  grammar  schools, 


410  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  private  academies,  or  of  the  great  multitude  of 
private  tutors  who  keep  boarding  houses  or  'coach' 
pupils  in  their  own  houses  ?  Not  a  twentieth  of  them 
have  received  any  training  whatever,  or  have  the 
smallest  idea  that  anything  beyond  a  certain  amount 
of  scholarship  and  a  certain  power  of  commanding 
attention  is  required  for  teaching  young  people. ' '  The 
writer  then  states  what  he  thinks  is  needed:  "It  is 
teachers  of  average  ability  instructing  pupils  of  average 
industry,  not  individually,  but  in  classes,  who  specially 
need  training  —  not  of  necessity  in  training  colleges, 
but  through  close  attention  at  lessons  given  by  masters 
of  tried  experience."1 

This  is  exactly  the  idea  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum. 
The  aim  is  to  provide  teachers,  who  are  "men  of  in- 
telligence and  self-sacrifice,  who  possess,  besides  an 
excellent  general  culture,  a  good  knowledge  of  their 
subject,  and  who  are  trained  through  close  attendance, 
by  masters  of  tried  experience. "  Before  attempting  to 
prove  this  from  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society  and  the 
Ratio  Studiorum,  we  beg  to  make  one  remark.  The 
Society  does  not  undervalue  scholarship,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  appreciates  it  highly  and  wishes  always  a 
considerable  number  of  her  members  to  possess  it  to 
an  eminent  degree.  This  is  proved  beyond  doubt  by 
the  list  of  distinguished  Jesuit  writers  given  in  two 
preceding  chapters  (V  and  VII).  The  Society  recog- 
nizes also  the  value  of  university  studies.  We  have 
quoted  previously  the  decree  of  the  23rd  General  Con- 
gregation of  the  Order  (1883,  Decretum  XXI):  "It  is 

1  The  Nineteenth  Century -,  October  1900.  Italics  ours.— 
As  early  as  1880  Father  Pachtler  had  enunciated,  almost  lit- 
erally, the  same  principles,  in  the  Stimmen  aus  Maria-Laach, 
vol.  XIX,  p.  167. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TEACHING.  411 

expedient  to  send  select  members  to  the  universities 
to  obtain  trie  degrees  which  empower  them  to  teach 
in  the  public  [i.  e.  Government]  schools. "  l  We  learn 
that  the  English  Jesuits  in  late  years  have  opened  a 
Hall  at  Oxford  (Pope's  Hall),  to  afford  young  mem- 
bers an  opportunity  of  attending  the  university  lec- 
tures and  of  taking  the  degrees.  We  learn  further 
that  a  number  of  Jesuits  from  other  countries  are  there 
pursuing  linguistic  and  scientific  studies.  The  same 
is  done  in  Ireland,  Belgium,  Holland,  Austria,  France 
and  other  countries.  In  some  places,  as  in  Austria, 
several  Jesuit  colleges  are  wholly  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  government,  and  all  the  teachers  have 
made  the  prescribed  studies  at  the  universities  and 
passed  the  rigid  ' 'state  examinations''.  One  of  the 
professors  of  the  Jesuit  college  at  Feldkirch,  Austria, 
has  been  chosen  as  "one  of  the  seven  prominent 
Latinists  who  are  working  at  the  great  Historical 
Grammar  of  the  Latin  Language."  2  It  is  evident  that 
in  all  professional  schools  conducted  by  Jesuits,  as  in 
the  Medical  and  I^aw  Departments  of  Georgetown 
University,  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  instructors  and 
professors  are  able  professional  teachers. 

As  far  as  America  is  concerned  there  existed  pecu- 
liar handicaps  to  the  cultivation  of  scholarship  espe- 
cially in  Catholic  institutions.  Throughout  the  nine- 
teenth century  missions  had  to  be  established,  chapels 
and  churches  built,  and  missionaries  found  to  care  for 
the  spiritual  wants  of  a  rapidly  increasing  population.3 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  123.     See  above  pp.  198—199. 

2  Korting,  Handbuch  der  romanischen  Philologie  (Leip- 
zig 1896),  p.  247. 

3  See  the  remarks  of  the  Right  Rev.  Th.  Conaty  in  the 
Catholic  University  Bulletin,  July  1901,  p.  305. 


41 2  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

This  work  claimed  the  greatest  part  of  the  interest  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  general,  and  a  comparatively 
large  share  of  the  time  and  energy  of  the  members  of 
the  Society.  But  a  teacher  overburdened  with  work 
cannot  devote  himself  to  original  research.  Add  to 
this  the  general  poverty  of  the  Catholic  population, 
who  had  to  support  not  only  their  churches,  but  also 
their  schools,  and  it  will  be  easy  to  understand  that 
Catholic  colleges  had  serious  difficulties  in  acquiring 
the  libraries,  museums  and  laboratories  which  are 
essential  for  higher  studies,  and  much  more  so  for 
scholarly  work.  How  much  better  situated  are  the 
secular  institutions  of  learning  in  this  country!  "The 
National  Government  has,  from  the  very  beginning, 
made  enormous  grants  of  land  and  money  in  aid  of 
education  in  the  several  states.  The  portion  of  public 
domain  hitherto  set  apart  by  Congress  for  the  endow- 
ment of  public  education  amounts  to  86,138,473  acres 
or  134,591  English  square  miles.  This  is  an  area 
larger  than  the  New  England  States,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Delaware  added  together,  as 
great  as  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  The  aggregate  value 
of  lands  and  money  given  for  education  by  the  Na- 
tional Government  is  nearly  $300,000,000.*  Besides, 
of  the  three  hundred  and  fifteen  million  dollars  given 
by  private  individuals  within  the  last  nine  years  for 
educational  purposes,2  very  little  has  gone  to  Catholic 
institutions. 

1  Education  in  the  United  States.  Edited  by  Professor 
Butler  of  Columbia  University,  Albany  1900,  pp.  VII— VIII. 

*  See  Educational  Revieiu,  May  1902,  p.  492.  In  1901 
the  educational  gifts  were  not  less  than  73  million  dollars. 
Mrs.  Stanford  leads  the  list  with  SO1^  million  to  the  Leland 
Stanford  Jr.  University.  In  1900  the  private  gifts  amounted 
to  48  million,  and  in  1899  to  63  million  dollars. 


SCHOLARSHIP  AND  TEACHING.  413 

In  spite  of  the  liberal  national  and  private  assis- 
tance granted,  the  public  institutions  have,  until  a 
short  time  ago,  not  been  overconspicuous  for  scholar- 
ship, as  is  openly  declared  in  a  number  of  recent 
articles  on  this  subject,  by  Professor  Miinsterberg  of 
Harvard,1  Mr.  Carl  Snyder, 2  and  Professor  Simon 
Newcomb  of  the  Naval  Observatory,  Washington.3 
These  writers  repeat  the  complaints  which  Professor 
Rowland  of  Johns  Hopkins  had  uttered  more  than 
twenty-five  years  ago.4  Professor  Miinsterberg,  in  the 
said  article  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  repudiates  the 
charge  that  America  has  no  scholarship  at  all ;  he 
affirms  that  the  situation  is  infinitely  better  than 
Europeans  suppose  it  to  be  —  in  certain  branches  of 
knowledge  excellent  work  has  been  done.  Neverthe- 
less the  author  is  compelled  to  continue:  "And  yet 
I  am  convinced  that  the  result  stands  in  no  proper 
relation  to  the  achievements  of  American  culture  in 
all  the  other  aspects  of  national  life,  and  the  best 
American  scholars  everywhere  frankly  acknowledge 
and  seriously  deplore  it.  ...  American  publications 
cross  the  ocean  in  a  ridiculously  small  number ;  in  the 
world  of  letters  no  Columbus  has  yet  discovered  the 
other  side  of  the  globe."5  Years  ago,  Dr.  McCosh 
had  passed  a  similar  verdict :  "The  scholarship  of  the 
great  body  of  the  students  is  as  high  in  America  as  in 
Europe  ;  but  they  rear  in  Great  Britain  and  Germany 
a  body  of  ripe  scholars  to  whom  we  have  nothing 
equal  in  the  New  World. "  6 

1  Atlantic  Monthly,  May  1901. 

2  North  American  Review,  Jan.  1902. 

3  North  American  Review,  February  1902. 

4  See  Popular  Science  Monthly,  June  1901. 
6    Atlantic  Monthly,  1.  c.,  p.  615. 

6    Life  of  James  McCosh,  p.  204. 


414  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Can  we,  then,  be  surprised  to  find  that  the 
Catholic  institutions  could  not  yet  develop  productive 
scholarship  ?  However,  as  was  said  by  many  distin- 
guished writers,  productive  scholarship  is  by  no  means 
the  first  requisite  for  an  efficient  teacher,  much  more 
essential  are  "intelligence,  self-sacrifice,  and  close 
attention  to  lessons  given  by  masters  of  tried  ex- 
perience/* In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  show  that 
the  training  prescribed  by  the  Ratio  Studiorum  for  the 
young  Jesuit  is  excellently  suited  to  furnish  him  with 
these  requisites,  and  thus  to  make  of  him  a  good 
teacher. l 

1  On  p.  409  it  is  said  that  a  sort  of  "pseudo-productivity" 
is  likely  to  attend  the  excessive  emphasis  laid  on  scholar- 
ship. This  statement  finds  a  striking  confirmation  in  the 
latest  Report  of  the  Com.  of  Ed.  (1901,  vol.  I,  pp.  127—128). 
In  a  brief  article  * 'Higher  Education  made  in  Germany, "  we 
read  among  other  things:  "To  deplore  the  fact  that  our 
scholarship  has  a  strong  German  tinge  would  be  like  apolo- 
gizing for  the  loins  from  which  we  sprang.  And  yet  it  is  a 
question  if  of  recent  years  we  have  not  followed  German 
methods  too  exclusively  and  too  unintelligently."  The  Ger- 
mans themselves  often  misuse  the  scientific  method  on  trivial 
subjects.  "Scholarship  suffers  from  an  enormous  over- 
production of  monographs  in  which  an  ambitious  method 
stretches  a  thin  substance  to  the  cracking  point.  There  is  a 
craze  not  to  prove  something  valuable,  but  to  prove  some- 
thing. "  A  few  remarkable  instances  of  such  "scholarly" 
productions  of  American  graduate  students  are  given  in  the 
same  article. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
Training  of  the  Jesuit  Teacher. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  even  at  present  the 
Jesuits  exercise  considerable  influence  in  the  world. 
What  is  the  secret  of  their  hold  on  Catholics?  What 
the  source  from  which  their  power  springs?  The  real 
secret  of  the  Jesuits*  influence  is  to  be  found  in  their 
training.  Dr.  Freytag  in  his  review  of  Father  Duhr's 
work  on  the  Ratio  Studiorum  remarked:  "After  the 
perusal  of  this  learned  work,  one  will  understand  that 
only  highly  talented  young  men  can  join  that  Order; 
for  what  is  demanded  of  them  [in  the  line  of  studies] 
is  extraordinary."1  We  have  to  see  how  far  this 
training  of  a  Jesuit  is  a  satisfactory  preparation  for 
his  work  as  teacher  in  high  schools  and  colleges,  how 
far  it  tends  to  make  the  Jesuit  teacher  —  in  the  words 
of  the  Hon.  G.  C.  Brodrick — "a  man  of  self-sacrifice," 
and  whether  it  gives  him  a  "  solid  knowledge  of  his 
subject  and  the  art  of  teaching,  through  close  atten- 
dance from  a  master  of  experience. ' ' 

The  first  requisite  is,  that  the  original  material, 
the  candidate  for  the  Order,  is  good.  The  statue, 
however  deftly  carved,  will  not  be  a  success  if  the 
marble  has  serious  defects.  Therefore,  such  only  are 
to  be  admitted  into  the  ranks  of  the  Society,  as  are 
capable  of  receiving  the  Jesuit  'form,'  only  those  who 
show  a  capacity  for  imbibing  its  spirit  and  submitting 

1  In  the  Centralorgan  fur  die  Interessen  des  Realschul- 
wesens.  Berlin. 

(415) 


416  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

to  its  discipline.1  The  Constitutions  of  the  Society 
are  quite  explicit  on  this  point.  They  say  that  the 
person  having  the  power  of  admission  "should  not  be 
turned  by  any  consideration  from  that  which  he  shall 
judge  most  conducive  in  the  L,ord  to  the  service  of  God 
in  the  Society;  to  promote  which  he  should  not  be  too 
eager  to  grant  admission."  2  The  Provincial  Superior 
is  further  exhorted  "to  watch  that  his  subjects  are  not 
too  anxious  (ne  nimii  sint)  to  attract  people  to  the 
Society,  but  by  their  virtues  they  should  endeavor  to 
lead  all  to  Christ. ' ' 3  The  teachers  in  particular  are 
told  "even  in  private  conversations  to  inculcate  piety, 
but  without  attracting  any  one  to  the  Order. ' ' 4  Now 
what  qualities  does  the  Society  require  of  those 
applying  for  admission?  The  Constitutions  want  men 
endowed  with  the  highest  gifts  of  nature.  In  order 
that  they  may  be  able  to  benefit  their  fellow  creatures, 
the  candidates  of  the  Society  should  be  endowed  with 
the  following  gifts:  as  regards  their  intellect,  they 
should  possess  good  judgment,  sound  doctrine,  or  the 
talent  to  acquire  it.  As  to  character,  they  must  be 
studious  of  all  virtue  and  spiritual  perfection,  calm, 
steadfast  and  strenuous  in  what  they  undertake  for 
God's  service,  and  burning  with  zeal  for  the  salvation 
of  souls.  In  externals,  facility  of  language,  so  needful 
for  the  intercourse  with  fellow  men;  besides,  the 
applicant  should  possess  good  health  and  strength  to 
undergo  the  labors  of  the  Institute.5 

1  See  Father  Clarke's  article  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
Aug.  1896. 

2  Const.  Soc.Jesuy  Pars  I,  cap.  1,  4. 

3  Reg.  Prov.,  33. 

4  Reg.  com.,  6. 

6     Constitutions  of  the  Society,  P.  I.  c.  2. 


TRAINING  OF  THK  JKSUIT  TKACHKR.  417 

Such  is  the  material  of  the  future  Jesuit;  no  mean 
material  indeed.  How  does  the  Society  carry  out  the 
modelling  of  the  young  members  ?  How  does  she  — 
to  confine  ourselves  to  the  question  of  training  teachers 
—  train  them  to  become  efficient  instructors  and  edu- 
cators? To  understand  this  better,  it  will  be  good  to 
follow  a  young  Jesuit  through  the  course  of  his  train- 
ing. Take  a  young  man,  a  student  of  a  college,  per- 
haps of  a  university.  May  be,  he  has  been  educated 
in  a  Jesuit  college,  he  has  seen  the  Jesuits  working 
for  education,  has  heard  them  preaching  and  lectur- 
ing, he  feels  attracted  by  their  work:  he  wants  to 
become  one  of  them.  Perhaps  he  has  never  seen  a 
Jesuit,  but  he  has  heard  of  them,  has  read  of  the 
great  achievements  of  the  famous  missionaries  of  the 
Order,  beginning  from  St.  Francis  Xavier  down  to  our 
days;  he  has  come  across  a  book  written  by  a  Jesuit, 
he  hears  how  much  they  have  done  in  the  defense  of 
Christianity,  above  all  how  they  are  hated  and  per- 
secuted by  the  enemies  of  the  Church:  the  ideal  in- 
spirations of  his  heart  grow  stronger,  and  he  inquires 
where  he  can  find  these  men  so  much  spoken  of.  It 
is  a  fact  that  during  the  Kulturkampf  in  Germany,  the 
German  Province  of  the  Society  almost  doubled  its 
numbers.  Many  students,  who  had  never  seen  a 
Jesuit,  left  the  gymnasium  or  university  to  join  the 
exiles,  just  because  of  the  singular  hatred  of  which  the 
outlawed  Order  was  the  object.  They  concluded  that 
a  body  of  men  thus  singled  out,  must  possess  some- 
thing extraordinary,  something  especially  praise- 
worthy, as  they  could  not  believe  that  the  calumnies 
spread  by  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits  could  have  any 
foundation.  The  student,  frequently  the  brightest  of 
27 


4l8  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

his  class,  travels  to  the  nearest  place,  perhaps  to  a 
foreign  country,  where  he  finds  a  house  or  a  college  of 
the  Order.1  He  is  introduced  to  the  Superior,  to 
whom  he  expresses  his  desire  of  joining  the  ranks  of 
the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius.  He  is  strictly  examined  as 
to  his  studies,  his  character,  the  motives  which  led 
him  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  Society,  and  above 
all,  whether  any  one,  especially  a  Jesuit,  has  influ- 
enced him  to  take  this  step,  which  latter  fact  would 
be  considered  an  impediment  to  his  admission.  The 
hardships  of  the  religious  life,  the  long  course  of 
studies  prescribed  by  the  Society,  the  sacrifices  to  be 
undergone,  the  obedience  to  be  rendered,  all  this  is 
explained  to  him.  But  suppose  these  representations 
do  not  deter  him,  then  after  a  careful  examination 
conducted  by  several  Jesuits,  if  the  student  is  thought 
to  possess  sufficient  talent,  and  a  good  moral  disposi- 
tion, he  is  received  as  a  novice  of  the  Society. 

Perhaps  the  young  candidate  expected  soon  to  be 
sent  to  the  missions,  or  to  be  employed  in  teaching  or 
writing,  but  the  Society  holds  to  the  old  principle  that 
he  who  is  to  teach,  is  first  to  learn.  Above  all,  he 
has  to  learn  the  most  necessary  science,  expressed  by 
the  old  Nosce  tfypsum:  "Know  thyself,"  and  that  not 
in  a  merely  speculative,  but  in  a  severely  practical 
manner.  By  this  intense  self-knowledge,  the  young 
religious  is  enabled  to  understand  the  characters  of 
others  and  to  deal  with  them  successfully.  During 
the  first  two  years,  in  strict  seclusion  from  the  world, 

1  The  entrance  into  religious  life  and  the  happiness  en- 
joyed in  the  novitiate,  is  beautifully  told  by  the  German 
Jesuit  Denis,  translator  of  Ossian's  poems,  and  by  the  French 
Jesuit  Ravignan,  famous  for  his  conferences  at  Notre  Dame, 
Paris. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.  419 

he  learns  that  self-knowledge,  self-control,  and  "self- 
sacrifice,  ' '  which  are  necessary  to  the  future  missionary ; 
and  no  less  so,  to  the  future  teacher.  .It  is  a  religious, 
a  spiritual  training  which  the  future  educator  receives 
first  as  the  foundation  of  all  other  training.  Educa- 
tion and  reform  must  begin  at  home.  The  teacher  is 
to  instruct  his  pupils  in  the  principles  of  true  and 
solid  morality.  If  he  does  not  possess  and  practise 
these  principles  himself,  he  will  be  a  corrupter  of 
youth  instead  of  a  father  and  friend,  "a  blind  leader 
of  the  blind,  and  both  shall  fall  into  the  pit,"  as  the 
Divine  Teacher  expresses  it.  If  without  practising 
these  principles  he  endeavors  to  teach  them,  he  is  a 
hypocrite;  his  deeds  will  belie  his  words,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  young  are  sharp  and  their  perception  is 
keen;  they  will  soon  discover  the  discord  between  the 
teacher's  action  and  his  precepts,  and  the  former  will 
have  a  more  powerful  influence  on  them,  than  the 
latter,  as  the  L,atin  adage  has  it:  Verba,  movent,  exempla 
trahunt.  Even  the  pagan  rhetorician  Quintiliaii  in- 
sists on  this  point:  Ipse  (magister)  nee  habeat  vitia,  nee 
ferat:  "The  teacher  should  neither  have  nor  tolerate 
faults. ' '  *  The  teacher  is  daily  for  hours  with  his 
pupils,  speaking  to  them,  moving  before  them,  his 
every  word,  his  every  gesture,  his  every  smile  is 
watched  by  a  set  of  keen  critics.  All  this  must  imper- 
ceptibly exercise  a  deep  influence  on  the  youthful 
mind.  How  perfect,  therefore,  ought  the  teacher  to 
be,  how  faultless,  how  exemplary!  But  this  moral 
perfection  cannot  be  acquired  except  by  severe  self- 
control,  by  rigorous  self -discipline,  the  acquirement  of 
which  forms  the  great  end  of  the  religious  noviceship. 

1     De  Inst.  Orat.,  II,  2. 


420  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

It  was  St.  Ignatius'  oft-repeated  maxim,  not  only: 
Nosce  te  ipsum,  but,  Vince  te  ipsum:  "Conquer  thy- 
self." This  is  the  way  of  training  men,  characters,  of 
whom  there  is  greater  need  than  of  scholars. 

In  frequent  meditations  on  the  end  of  man,'  on  the 
life  of  the  Divine  Master,  the  young  religious  beholds 
the  true  dignity  of  man,  the  true  "sanctity  of  the  in- 
dividual," which  consists  in  his  relation  to  God,  his 
Creator.  These  truths  brought  home  to  the  religious 
by  daily  reflection  will  inspire  him  with  that  genuine 
zeal,  that  pure  love  of  man,  which  is  ready  to  undergo 
any  hardship,  to  spend  time,  talent,  health,  and  life, 
in  order  to  make  his  neighbor's  soul  good  and  noble 
on  earth  and  happy  throughout  eternity.  To  the 
practical  study  of  the  character,  of  the  life,  of  the 
words  and  actions  of  the  Divine  Master,  not  only  the 
novice,  but  every  Jesuit,  devotes  an  hour  every  day  in 
his  morning  meditation.  In  this  school  he  learns  to 
deal  with  pupils,  seeing  with  what  patience,  kindness 
and  love  Christ  dealt  with  little  ones  and  with  His 
disciples  whose  "slowness  of  grasp  and  understand- 
ing" (L,uke  24,  25)  would  have  been  too  much  for 
any  teacher,  except  him  who  was  so  "meek  and 
humble  of  heart"  (Matt,  n,  29).  From  Christ,  the 
poor,  and  the  friend  of  the  lowly,  he  learns  to  "slight 
110  one,  to  care  as  much  for  the  progress  of  the  poor 
pupils  as  of  the  rich,"  as  his  rule  enjoins  him.1  From 
Christ,  who  sacrificed  the  most  tender  relations  on 
earth  to  the  will  and  service  of  God,  in  order  to  be 
"about  his  father's  business"  (Luke  2,  49),  the  future 
teacher  must  learn  how  to  control  the  affections  of  his 
heart,  so  as  not  to  show  any  partiality,  any  special 

1    Reg.  com.  mag.  schol.  inf.,  50. 


TRAINING  OF  TH£  JESUIT  TKACHER.  421 

love  to  particular  pupils.  All  these  qualities  and 
virtues,  so  necessary  for  the  teacher,  the  young  religi- 
ous endeavors  to  acquire  during  the  time  of  his  prepa- 
ration. The  new  school  of  educators  may  sneer  at 
this  "asceticism,"  still  we  know  that  godliness, 
although  not  sufficient  for  everything,  is  nevertheless 
profitable  for  everything,1  especially  so  for  education. 

The  first  two  years  of  the  life  of  the  young  Jesuit 
are  principally  devoted  to  this  religious  and  moral 
training.  However,  his  future  life  work  is  not  lost 
sight  of  even  during  this  time.  Many  exercises  and 
practices  of  the  novitiate  have  a  direct  bearing  on  his 
scientific  preparation.  As  a  rule,  the  students  are  ad- 
mitted only  after  they  have  finished  their  classical 
course,  in  Germany  and  Austria  for  instance  after, 
completing  the  gymnasium,  which  is  a  classical 
course  of  nine  years;  in  this  country,  after  Sophomore 
class,  which  amounts  to  four  years  academic  or  high 
school  work  and  two  years  of  college  properly  so- 
called.  Of  course,  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule, 
not  a  few  enter  after  having  finished  a  course  of  philo- 
sophy or  after  having  taken  special  courses  at  a  uni- 
versity, in  addition  to  their  classical  studies,  while 
sometimes  students  are  admitted  who  have  not  com- 
pleted the  whole  college  course.  During  the  first  two 
years,  novices  have  frequent  oratorical  exercises,  they 
receive  theoretical  instructions  on  explaining  Christian 
doctrine,  and  still  more  frequently  —  in  accordance 
with  the  fundamental  maxim  of  the  Society,  that 
practice  and  exercise  are  most  important  means  of 
training  —  they  have  to  give  catechetical  instructions. 
This  exercise  is  an  excellent  preparation  for  explain- 

1     I  Tim.  4,  8. 


422  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ing  any  subject  in  a  simple  and  intelligent  manner,  a 
thing  most  valuable  for  instructors  in  lower  classes. 
Their  conversations  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  day 
are  to  be  carried  on  in  Latin.  Besides,  there  are 
several  hours  a  week  devoted  to  regular  schools  in 
L,atin,  Greek,  and  the  mother  tongue;  thus  the  knowl- 
edge of  languages  is  at  least  kept  alive,  if  not  per- 
fected. 

After  the  two  years  novitiate,  the  young  Jesuits 
have  to  repeat  the  classical  studies  for  one,  two  or 
three  years  —  the  time  varies  according  to  the  studies 
made  previous  to  admission  to  the  Society.  Special 
attention  is  paid  to  the  precepts  of  aesthetics,  poetics, 
and  rhetoric,  and  to  various  practical  applications  of 
these  precepts.  Then  follows  a  three  years'  course  of 
philosophy,  mathematics  and  natural  sciences,  especi- 
ally physics,  chemistry,  biology,  physiology,  astron- 
omy and  geology.  The  system  pursued  is  entirely 
different  from  that  followed  at  our  universities,  where 
the  student  listens  to  the  lectures  of  the  professor, 
takes  down  notes  and  studies  them  at  home,  and  then 
goes  up  for  exami nation  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Not 


so  with  the  Jesuits.     The  lectures  of  the  professor  are 


not  the  only,  perhaps  not  even  the  most  important 
part  in  the  philosophical  and  scientific  training. 
Characteristic  and  most  essential  are  again  the  exer- 
cises, foremost  among  them  the  disputations,  for  which 
three  or  four  times  a  week  a  full  hour  is  set  apart. 
In  what  do  they  consist?  One  of  the  students  has  to 
study  carefully  a  thesis  previously  treated  in  the 
lectures,  in  order  to  expound  and  defend  it  against  the 
objections  which  are  being  prepared  in  the  meantime 
by  two  other  students.  On  the  appointed  day  the 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.          423 

defender  takes  his  place  at  a  special  desk  in  front  of 
the  class,  opposite  him  the  two  objectors.  The  defender 
states  his  proposition,  explains  its  meaning,  and  the 
opinions  of  the  adversaries,  ancient  and  modern,  then 
gives  proofs  for  it,  in  strictly  syllogistic  form,  all  this 
in  Latin.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  first  objector 
attacks  the  proposition,  or  a  part  of  it,  or  an  argument 
adduced  in  its  proof,  all  this  again  in  syllogisms.  The 
defender  repeats  the  objection,  then  answers  in  a  few 
words  to  major,  minor  and  conclusion,  by  conceding, 
denying,  or  distinguishing  the  various  parts  of  the 
objector's  syllogism.  The  opponent  urges  his  objec- 
tion, by  offering  a  new  subsumptive  syllogism  to  the 
defender's  solution.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the 
second  objector  does  the  same  for  fifteen  minutes. 
During  the  last  quarter,  either  the  professor,  or  any 
student  present,  may  offer  objections  against  the 
defender's  proposition. 

These  disputations  are  regular  intellectual  tourna- 
ments, the  objectors  trying  to  show  the  weak  points  of 
the  thesis,  the  defender  striving  to  maintain  his  pro- 
position. "This  system  of  testing  the  soundness  of 
the  doctrine  taught,  continued  as  it  is  throughout  the 
.theological  studies,  which  come  at  a  later  period  of 
the  young  Jesuit's  career,  provides  those  who  pass 
through  it  with  a  complete  defense  against  difficulties 
which  otherwise  are  likely  to  puzzle  the  Catholic  con- 
troversialist. It  is  a  splendid  means  of  sifting  truth 
from  falsehood.  Many  of  those  who  take  part  in  it 
are  men  of  ability  and  well  versed  in  the  objections 
that  can  be  urged  against  the  Catholic  teaching.  Such 
men  conduct  their  attack  not  as  a  mere  matter  of  form, 
but  with  vigor  and  ingenuity.  .  .  .  Sometimes  the 


424  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

objector  will  urge  his  difficulties  with  such  a  sem- 
blance of  conviction  as  even  to  mislead  some  of  those 
present.  ...  So  far  from  any  check  being  put  on  the 
liberty  of  the  students,  they  are  encouraged  to  press 
home  every  sort  of  objection,  however  searching  and 
fundamental,  however  bold  and  profane  (e.  g.  against 
the  existence  of  God,  free  will,  immortality  of  the  soul, 
Divinity  of  Christ,  the  Catholic  Church  etc.),  that 
can  be  raised  to  the  Catholic  doctrine.  In  every  class 
are  found  to  be  men,  who  are  not  to  be  put  off  with 
an  evasion,  and  a  professor  who  was  to  attempt  to  sub- 
stitute authority  for  reason,  would  very  soon  find  out 
his  mistake.  This  perfect  liberty  of  disputation  is  one 
of  the  many  happy  results  of  the  possession  of  perfect 
and  unfailing  truth/^J 

Every  six  or  eight  weeks,  all  the  more  important 
theses  discussed  during  the  preceding  time,  are 
defended  in  the  monthly  disputations,  at  which  all  the 
different  classes  of  the  institution  and  all  the  profes- 
sors of  the  faculty  are  present.  Sometimes  more 
solemn  disputations  are  held,  to  which  frequently 
professors  from  other  institutions  are  invited,  and  any 
one  is  free  to  offer  objections  which  the  defender  has 
to  solve.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  method  has 
many  great  advantages.  First  of  all,  it  forces  the 
student  to  study  his  proposition  most  thoroughly;  for 
he  is  not  aware  what  objections  shall  be  made.  There- 
fore, both  defenders  and  objectors  have  to  prepare 
most  carefully,  to  examine  closely  the  proposition  on 
all  sides,  to  know  its  exact  meaning,  to  understand 
the  arguments,  and  to  discover  its  weak  points.  The 
professor,  of  course,  is  present,  sees  that  strict  syl- 

1    Father  Clarke  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  August,  1896. 


TRAINING  OF  THB  JKSUIT  TEACHER.          425 

logistic  form  is  kept,  and  in  case  the  defender  is  un- 
able to  solve  the  difficulties,  has  to  give  the  final 
decision.  At  the  same  time  it  forces  the  professor  to 
be  most  careful  and  accurate  in  the  opinion  he  holds, 
and  especially  in  the  arguments  which  he  proposes, 
as  fullest  liberty  is  given  in  attacking  every  point,  and 
as  the  students,  frequently  mature  men  and  highly 
gifted,  try  their  very  best  to  show  any  weak  point  in 
the  argumentation  of  the  text  book,  or  in  the  profes- 
sor's propositions.  Professor  Paulsen  observes  on  the 
disputations  of  the  medieval  schoolmen,  of  which  the 
disputations  of  the  Jesuit  schools  are  a  modification: 
"As  regards  the  disputations,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Middle  Ages  were  hardly  mistaken.  They  were  un- 
doubtedly fitted  to  produce  a  great  readiness  of  knowl- 
edge and  a  marvellous  skill  in  grasping  arguments. ' ' l 

It  has  frequently  been  asserted  that  this  uniform 
training  of  the  Jesuits  crushes  out  all  individuality. 
Professor  Paulsen  says  :  "Great  individualities  do  not 
appear  in  the  history  of  the  Order,"  and  Cardinal 
Newman  writes:  "What  a  great  idea,  to  use  Guizot's 
expression,  is  the  Society  of  Jesus!  what  a  creation  of 
genius  in  its  organization;  but  so  well  adapted  is  the 
institution  to  its  object  that  for  that  very  reason  it 
can  afford  to  crush  individualities,  however  gifted;  so 
much  so,  that,  in  spite  of  the  rare  talents  of  its  mem- 
bers, it  has  even  become  an  objection  to  it  in  the 
mouth  of  its  enemies,  that  it  has  not  produced  a 
thinker  like  Scotus  or  Malebranche  !"  * 

Does  uniform  training  necessarily  result  in  uni- 
formity of  character?  Certainly  not.  If  all  those 

1  Geschichte  des  gel.  Unt.,  vol.  I,  p.  38. 

2  Newman,  Historical  Sketches y  III,  p.  71. 


426  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

trained  had  the  same  disposition,  the  same  nature  to 
be  worked  upon,  perhaps  it  would.  Does  the  same 
nourishment  given  to  a  number  of  children  produce 
the  same  result,  the  same  complexion,  the  same  color 
of  hair,  the  same  seize?  Why  should  mental  food? 
Does  the  same  training  in  a  military  academy  produce 
a  perfect  likeness  in  all  ?  The  military  system  of  the 
"Great  Powers"  gives  the  most  uniform  training  in 
the  world.  Does  it  crush  out  individuality  of  the 
generals  and  officers  in  tactics  and  strategy?  Jesuit 
pupils  will  be  surprised  at  being  told  that  their  teachers 
have  all  the  same  mould  of  character  and  are  destitute 
of  individuality.  But  no  one  smiles  more  at  the  above 
mentioned  assertion  than  Jesuit  Superiors,  whose  hard- 
est task  it  is  to  unite  all  the  different  characters  in  one 
common  effort,  without  interfering  too  much  with  their 
individuality.  They  know  too  well  that  the  crushing 
out  of  the  individuality  would  mean  the  crushing  of 
energy  and  of  self-activity  so  much  insisted  on  by  St. 
Ignatius  in  his  Spiritual  Exercises.  It  was  St.  Ignatius 
who  told  those  who  have  charge  of  the  spiritual  training 
of  the  members  of  the  Order:  "It  is  most  dangerous  to 
endeavor  to  force  all  on  the  same  path  to  perfection ; 
he  who  attempts  this  does  not  know  how  different  and 
how  manifold  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are. ' '  l 

If  one  studies  the  works  of  the  great  writers  of  the 
Society,  he  will  be  struck  by  the  variety  and  difference 
of  opinions  held  by  professors  and  writers  of  the  same 
period,  v.  g.  Suarez  and  Vasquez.2  It  is  amusing  to  read 

1  Selectae  S.  Ignatii  Sententiaey  VIII. 

2  However,  these  two  theologians  did  not  teach  together 
in  the  same  university,  as  is  often  said.     See  the  dates  given 
by  Fathers  Frius,  S.  J.,  and  Kneller,  S.  J.,  in  the  Kirchen- 
lexikon,  XI,  923,  and  XII,  634. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.  427 

how  one  attacks  and  refutes  the  other,  speaking  of 
"the  opinions  of  a  certain  modern  author  which  can- 
not be  maintained  at  all"  etc.  Cardinal  Newman 
says  in  his  Historical  Sketches:  "It  is  plain  that  the 
body  is  not  over-zealous  about  its  theological  tradi- 
tions, or  it  certainly  would  not  suffer  Suarez  to  contro- 
vert with  Molina,  Viva  with  Vasquez,  Passaglia  with 
Petavius,  and  Faure  with  Suarez,  de  Lugo  andValen- 
tia.  In  this  intellectual  freedom  its  members  justly 
glory;  inasmuch  as  they  have  set  their  affections,  not 
on  the  opinions  of  the  Schools,  but  on  the  souls  of 
men. ' ' 1  Professor  Paulsen  seems  to  have  forgotten 
his  own  statement:  "Greatest  possible  power  of  the 
individual  is*  preserved  without  derangement  of  the 
organism  of  the  Order,  spontaneous  activity  and  per- 
fect submission  of  the  will,  contrasts  almost  irrecon- 
cilable, seem  to  have  been  harmoniously  united  in  a 
higher  degree  by  the  Society,  than  by  any  other 
body."2  A  recent  English  writer,3  speaking  of  the 
"crushing  of  individuality  practised  by  the  Jesuits," 
seems  to  trace  it  to  the  pernicious  influence  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Latin  races.  The  Latins  "keep  men  in 
leading  strings;"  "liberty  to  Latins  means  license;" 
"true  Latins  cannot  understand  the  principle  of  per- 
sonality. ' '  The  Spaniards,  in  particular,  are  regarded 
with  special  horror.  The  Roman  Curia  is  said  to 
have  adopted  the  system  used  by  the  Spaniards,  "who 
could  not  endure  discussion  or  publicity;  centralization 

1  Hist.  Sketches,  vol.   II,  p.  369.     Does  not  this  great 
writer,  by  so  true  a  statement  of  facts,  refute  what,  in  another 
passage,  he  quoted  about  crushing  out  individuality  ? 

2  See  above  p.  18. 

3  Father  Tauuton,  A  History  of  the  Jesuits  in  England, 
1901.     See  Month,  May  1901,  p.  505. 


428  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

was  the  ideal;  routine  the  practice,"  and  so  on.  "The 
Jesuit  system  of  blind  obedience  was  founded  to  bring 
about  the  absolutism  of  authority;"  this  ' 'makes  them 
akin  (strange  though  it  may  seem)  to  that  Puritan 
strain  so  often  found  in  those  doing  or  desirous  of 
doing  great  things. "  This  is  strange  indeed,  but  far 
stranger  are  the  absurdities  and  contradictions  into 
which  prejudiced  men  are  led.  The  Jesuits  are  said 
to  be  deprived  of  personality  and  individuality,  and  in 
the  same  breath  it  is  sometimes  asserted  that  every- 
where they  know  how  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  most 
different  circumstances:  In  England,  America,  Ger- 
many, Spain,  France,  Russia,  China,  Japan,  Para- 
guay, Abyssinia.  It  is  said  the  General  wants  a  man 
for  some  secret  mission.  He  opens  his  list  and  there 
he  finds  a  man  especially  fitted  to  influence  the  court 
of  St.  Petersburg,  or  the  Padisha  in  Constantinople; 
then  one  who  knows  so  well  how  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  Cromwell  as  to  become  his  friend,  dine  at  his 
table,  play  chess  with  him; l  then  one  who  is  fitted 
for  guiding  his  Celestial  Majesty  in  Pekin;  here  one 
to  rouse  the  starving  peasants  of  Ireland  to  enthusiasm 
for  their  'Romish'  faith,  then  one  who  by  all  sorts  of 
devices  tames  the  savages  of  Paraguay ;  one  who 
disputes  with  the  bonzes  in  Japan,  or  becomes  a  Brah- 
min in  India,  as  the  famous  Robert  de  Nobili;  there  is 
one  who  is  best  suited  to  conquer  the  refractory  Pro- 
fessors at  the  University  in  L,ouvain,  and  the  Doctors 
of  the  Sorbonne,  then  another  who  wins  the  con- 
fidence of  the  townspeople  and  villagers  in  Switzer- 
land, the  Tyrol,  and  Germany  —  in  short  men  for 

1     Tauuton,  /.  c. 


TRAINING  OF  THE:  JESUIT  TEACHER.  429 

every  possible  mission.1  Such  are  the  opinions  of  the 
adversaries  of  the  Society.  But  is  not  the  greatest 
variety  of  characters  needed  for  all  these  employ- 
ments? And  yet,  they  are  supposed  to  be  deprived  of 
individuality!  Or  is  that  unpersonal  trait  which  is 
infused  into  every  Jesuit  so  universal  that  all  other 
individualities  are  contained  in  it,  as  the  scholastic 
philosophers  express  it,  eminenter,  in  a  subtle  and 
mysterious  form  ?  Is  every  Jesuit  a  sort  of  Proteus, 
who  could  change  himself  into  a  lion,  a  serpent,  a 
pard,  a  boar,  a  tree,  a  fountain?  A  wonderful  system 
of  training,  indeed,  for  which  the  diplomats  of  our 
modern  courts  might  envy  the  Jesuits.  To  be  serious, 
that  depriving  of  personality,  attributed  to  the  Jesuit 
system,  is  nothing  but  one  of  the  numerous  Jesuit 
myths. 

We  have  left  our  young  Jesuit  in  his  philosophical 
course.  But  what  becomes  in  the  meantime  of  the 
study  of  the  classical  languages?  It  is  not  neglected 
during  the  course  of  philosophy,  at  least  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  provides  special  means  to  foster  and  pro- 
mote this  important  branch  of  study.  The  lectures  in 
mathematics  and  natural  sciences  are  given  in  the 
mother  tongue,  but  the  lectures  and  disputations  in 
philosophy  are  all  conducted  in  L,atin,  so  that  the 
young  Jesuit  is  in  the  habit  of  speaking  L,atin  and 
may  speak  it  with  ease  and  fluency.  It  is  true,  the 
Latin  of  these  disputations  and  lectures  in  not  exactty 
Ciceronian,  still  it  is  by  no  means  as  barbarous  as  the 

1  There  was  a  time  "when  behind  every  Roman  Catholic 
Court  in  Europe  there  stood  a  Jesuit  confessor,  and  a  Jesuit 
emissary  ascended  the  back  stairs  of  every  Protestant 
palace."  English  Review ',  vol.  V,  1846,  p.  65. 


43°  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

opponents  of  this  system  represent  it.  Some  of  the 
lyatin  text  books  on  philosophy  are  written  in  accurate 
L,atin.2  It  is  not,  however,  this  custom  of  speaking 
Latin  which  we  wished  to  adduce  as  a  provision  of 
the  Ratio  Studiorum,  to  advance  the  study  of  Latin 
during  the  course  of  philosophy.  But  we  find  in  the 
Ratio,  among  the  rules  for  the  Prefect  of  the  higher 
studies,  the  following  clause:  "He  shall  give  every 
student  of  philosophy  a  classical  author  and  admonish 
him  not  to  omit  reading  it  at  certain  hours. ' ' 2 

1  ' 'Monkish  Latin"  has  become  a  byword  from  the  days 
of  the  humanists  on  to  our  age.     The  technical  terms  in- 
troduced by  the  scholastics  are,  it  is  true,  not  found  in  the 
writings   of  the   ancients.     Still   we   cannot   deny  that  the 
schoolmen  had  a  right,  for  the  sake  of  greater  brevity  and 
precision,  to  form  new  words,   from  old  roots,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  cumbrous  circumlocutions   of    a    Cicero.     Many 
modern  scholars  view  the  scholastic  Latin  much  more  favor- 
ably than  was  customary  a  few  decades  ago.    Thus  Mr.  Leach, 
who  is  anything  but  friendly  to  the  scholastics,  says:  "The 
medieval  schoolmen  sinned  no  more  against  pure  Latinity, 
than  the  modern  scientific  writer  sins  against  English  un- 
defiled,  if  such  there  be."    And  Mr.  Rashdall  writes:  "Among 
the  students  of  a  University  and  among  the  clergy  generally 
much  villainous  Latin  was  no  doubt  talked,  just  as  much 
villainous  French  is  or  was  encouraged  by  the  rule  of  French- 
speaking  in  English  Seminaries  for  Young  Ladies.     But  the 
Latin  which  was  written  by  the  theologian,  or  historian  .  .  . 
was  not  as  bad  as  is  c^mea^iriy^Trpjaosed  by  those  who  have 
only  heard  it  abusd(£.     J.  S.  Mill  j^as  rightly  praised  the 
schoolmen  for  their  imnvTrrtel--ca£acity  in  the  invention  of 
technical  terms.     The  Latin  language  originally  rigid,  in- 
flexible, poor  in  vocabulary,   and  almost  incapable  of  ex- 
pressing a  philosophical  idea,  became  in  the  hands  of  medi- 
eval thinkers,  flexible,  subtle,  rich."     Univers.  of  the  M.  A., 
vol.  II,  pp.  595-596.     See  also  Paulsen,  /.  c.,  vol.  I,  pp.  45-48. 

2  Reg.  Praef.  Stud.  30. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TKACHER.  431 

In  this  manner  six  or  seven  years  of  training  have 
been  spent  in  the  Society  in  addition  to  about  the 
same  number  of  years  devoted  to  higher  studies 
previous  to  the  admission  into  the  Order;  thus,  before 
the  Jesuit  begins  his  work  as  teacher,  twelve  years, 
on  the  average,  have  been  spent  in  studies  after  the 
completion  of  the  elementary  or  public  school  course. 
The  Jesuit  teacher  is  then  employed  in  the  academical 
or  high  school  department.  His  training  compares 
favorably  to  that  of  the  high  school  teachers  in  this 
country,  at  least  as  far  as  the  length  of  time  is  con- 
cerned. In  Massachusetts  (1897)  one  Per  cen^  of 
high  school  teachers  were  graduates  of  scientific 
schools,  thirteen  per  cent  of  normal  schools,  sixty-six 
per  cent  of  colleges,  twenty  per  cent  unclassified.  — 
In  the  State  of  New  York  (1898)  there  were  thirty- 
two  per  cent  college  graduates,  thirty-nine  per  cent 
normal  school  graduates,  nineteen  per  cent  high  school 
graduates,  ten  per  cent  had  other  training.1  Thus  the 
average  of  higher  studies  is  certainly  not  more  than  eight 
years,  against  the  twelve  years  of  the  Jesuit  teacher. 

It  may  be  asked  how  far  the  Jesuit's  studies  are 
preparatory  to  his  work  as  teacher?  The  repetition  of 
the  classics  in  the  two  years  "Juniorate"  previous  to 
the  study  of  philosophy,  is  not  only  considered  as 
part  of  the  general  culture,  but  is  especially  viewed  as 
a  preparation  for  the  Jesuits'  work  as  teachers.  Quick 
has  correctly  said  that  the  Juvenats  or  Juniorates  were 
the  training  schools  where  the  young  Jesuit  learned 
the  method  of  teaching.2  That  this  was  the  aim  of 
this  course  is  apparent  from  what  the  General  Visconti 

From  Education  in  the  United  States,  vol.  I,  p.  190. 
Educational  Reformers,  pp.  36—37.      "^ 


432  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

said:  "Immediately  after  their  novitiate  they  [the 
young  Jesuits]  must  have  the  most  accomplished 
professors  of  Rhetoric  [by  which  word  is  understood 
general  philological  knowledge],  men,  who  not  only 
are  altogether  eminent  in  this  faculty,  but  who  know 
how  to  teach  and  make  everything  smooth  for  the 
scholars;  men  of  eminent  talent  and  the  widest  ex- 
perience in  the  art;  who  are  not  merely  to  form  good 
scholars,  but  to  train  good  masters."  l 

But  there  are  other  most  important  regulations 
concerning  the  direct  training  for  teaching.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  philosophical  course,  before  going  to  the 
colleges,  there  should  be  an  immediate  preparation  for 
those  who  in  the  near  future  are  to  enter  on  the  mo- 
mentous careerof  teaching  boys.  The  outline  of  the 
Ratio  Studiorum  of  1586  demands  the  following 
\course:2  "It  would  be  most  profitable  for  the  schools, 
if  those  who  are  about  to  be  preceptors  were  privately 
/  taken  in  hand  by  some  one  of  great  experience,  and 
for  two  months  or  more  were  practised  by  him  in  the 
method  of  reading,  teaching,  correcting,  writing,  and 
managing  a  class.  If  teachers  have  not  learned  these 
things  beforehand,  they  are  forced  to  learn  them  after- 
wards at  the  expense  of  their  scholars ;  and  then  they 
will  acquire  proficiency  only  when  they  have  already 
lost  in  reputation  ;  and  perchance  they  will  never 
unlearn  a  bad  habit.  Sometimes  such  a  habit  is  neither 
very  serious  nor  incorrigible,  if  taken  at  the  beginning; 
but  if  the  habit  is  not  corrected  at  the  outset,  it  conies 
to  pass  that  a  man,  who  otherwise  would  have  been 
most  useful,  becomes  well-nigh  useless.  There  is  no 
describing  how  much  amiss  preceptors  take  it,  if  they 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  130—131.  —  Hughes,  p.  184. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  p.  154.  —  See  Hughes,  p.  160. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.  433 

are  corrected,  when  they  have  already  adopted  a  fixed 
method  of  teaching;  and  what  continual  disagreement 
ensues  on  that  score  with  the  Prefect  of  Studies.  To 
obviate  this  evil,  in  the  case  of  our  professors,  let  the 
Prefect  in  the  chief  college,  whence  our  professors  of 
Humanities  and  Grammar  are  usually  taken,  remind 
the  Rector  and  Provincial,  about  three  months  before 
the  next  scholastic  year  begins,  that,  if  the  Province 
needs  new  professors  for  the  following  term,  they 
should  select  some  one  eminently  versed  in  the  art  of 
managing  classes,  whether  he  be  at  the  time  actually 
a  professor  or  a  student  of  theology  or  philosophy; 
and  to  him  the  future  masters  are  to  go  daily  for  an 
hour,1  to  be  prepared  by  him  for  their  new  ministry, 
giving  prelections  in  turn,  writing,  dictating,  correct- 
ing, and  discharging  the  other  duties  of  a  good 
teacher. " 2  *  Professor  Ziegler,  commenting  on  this 
regulation,  says:  "To  the  Jesuits  must  be  given  the 
credit  of  first  having  done  something  for  the  pedagogi- 
cal preparation  of  the  future  teachers  in  higher  schools; 
and  of  having  paved  \he  wafer  for  the  Probe-  uiid 
Semin&rjahr  of  our  days/ ?  3\  1 

Another  regulation  laid  down  in  the  Ratio  of  1599, 
as  a  duty  of  the  Provincial,4  is  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance :  "In  order  to  preserve  the  knowledge  of  classi- 
cal literature,  and  to  keep  up  a  Seminary  of  teachers, 
he  shall  try  to  have  in  his  Province  at  least  two  or 

1  In  the  final  Ratio  Stud,  of  1599,  it  was  laid  down  as 
a  duty  of  the  Rector  to  see  that  this  was  done,  but  the  time 
was  limited  to  three  hours  a  week.     {Reg.  Rect.  9.) 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  II,  p.  154,  no.  6.  —  Hughes,  p.  160.  — 
Duhr,  p.  39. 

3  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik,  p.  111. 

4  Reg.  Prov.  22. 

28 


434  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

three  men  distinguished  in  these  branches.  This  he 
shall  accomplish,  if,  from  time  to  time,  he  takes  care 
that  some  of  them  who  have  a  special  talent  and  in- 
clination for  these  studies,  and  are  sufficiently  trained 
in  other  branches,  devote  themselves  exclusively  to 
this  vocation,  so  that,  through  their  efforts  and  in- 
dustry, a  stock  of  good  teachers  is  formed." 

In  order  to  give  the  young  teachers,  who  were  to 
be  trained  in  this  Seminary,  a  reliable  guide,  the  gen- 
eral aSvSembly  of  the  Society,  in  1696-97,  passed  a  decree 
that,  "besides  the  rules  whereby  the  masters  of 
literature  are  directed  in  the  manner  of  teaching,  they 
should  be  provided  with  an  Instruction  and  proper 
Method  of  I/earning,  and  so  be  guided  in  their  private 
studies  even  while  they  are  teaching. ' ' 1  Father 
Joseph  de  Jouvancy  (L,atinized  Juvencius),  one  of  the 
greatest  authorities  on  education  of  his  age,  was  ordered 
to  revise,  and  adapt  to  the  requirements  of  this  decree, 
a  work  which  he  had  published  five  years  previously. 
This  book,  after  a  careful  examination  by  a  special 
commission,  appeared  in  1703,  as  the  authorized  hand- 
book for  the  teachers  of  the  Society,  under  the  title : 
Magistris  scholarum  inferiorum  Societatis  Jesu  de  ratione 
discendi  et  docendi.2  The  General  Visconti  in  1752 
wished  the  little  book  to  be  in  the  hands  of  all  Jesuit 

1  Pachtler,  I,  pp.  101-2.  —  Duhr,  p.  40.  — Hughes,  p.  162. 

2  A  German  translation  of  this  work,  with  introduction 
and  notes,  by  Robert  Schwickerath,  S.  J.,  was  published  in 
1898,   in  Herder's   Bibliothek   der  katholischen     Padagogiky 
vol.  X,  pp.  207-322.  —  An  excellent  sketch  of  the  life  and  the 
works  of  this  "model  of  a  Jesuit  Professor"  is  contained  in 
the  Etudes  religieuses,  Paris,  November  and  December  1872. 
—  The  correct  form  of  the  name  is  Jouvancy ',  not  Jouveucy, 
which  latter  originated  from  the  Latinized  Juvencius. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.          435 

teachers.1  The  little  work  has  been  styled  a  peda- 
gogical gem,  and  it  was  highly  praised  by  Rollin  and 
Voltaire.2  Dr.  Ernst  von  Sallwiirk  said  of  it  a  few 
years  ago  that  its  importance  reaches  far  beyond  the 
Jesuit  schools.  "We  may  consider  it  a  reliable  source 
for  information  of  what  Jesuit  pedagogy  at  his  time 
aimed  at  and  achieved.  Besides,  this  book  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent  works  on  college  pedagogy  (Gym- 
nasial-Pddagogik)."  3  In  the  following  chapters  we 
shall  frequently  refer  to  this  excellent  work  of  Father 
Jouvancy. 

The  account  we  have  given  so  far  of  the  training 
of  the  Jesuit  teacher  furnishes  an  answer  to  the  charge, 
which  is  brought  forward  now  and  then,  that  the 
Jesuit  teachers  were  too  young.  No  matter  how  things 
stood  in  the  Old  Society,  at  present,  according  to  the 
above  data,  the  average  age  of  the  Jesuit  teacher  when 
he  begins  teaching  cannot  be  less  than  twenty-four 
years.  Besides,  every  college,  according  to  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  ought  to  possess  a  number  of  magislri 
perpetui,  permanent  teachers,  i.  e.  of  men  who  spend 
their  whole  lives  in  teaching.  This  is  clearly  stated 
in  the  rules  of  the  Provincial:  "He  shall  procure  as 
many  as  possible  permanent  teachers  of  grammar  and 
rhetoric.  This  he  shall  effect  if,  at  the  end  of  the 
casuistic  or  theological  studies,  some  men  who  are 
thought  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  the  Society  better  in  this 
ministry  than  in  any  other,  are  resolutely  (strenue) 
destined  for  it,  and  admonished  to  devote  themselves 
wholly  to  so  salutary  a  work,  to  the  greater  glory  of 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  Ill,  p.  132 ;  IV,  pp.  401,  435. 

2  See  above  page  163,  note  1. 

3  In  Schmid's   Geschichte  der  Erziehung,  vol.  IV,  Ab- 
teilung  I,  pp.  460  and  538-543. 


436  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

God. ' ' 1  Father  Sacchini  devotes  the  fourth  part  of  his 
Protrepticon  to  encouraging  the  members  of  the  Society 
first,  to  offer  themselves  to  the  arduous  but  noble  work 
of  education:  "The  education  of  youth  for  many 
reasons  deserves  to  be  preferred  by  a  zealous  Jesuit  to 
all  the  other  ministries  of  the  Order. ' '  He  quotes  the 
words  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  in  the  Bull  of  the  confirma- 
tion of  the  Society:  "They  [the  members  of  the 
Society]  shall  have  expressly  recommended  to  them 
the  instruction  of  boys  and  ignorant  people.  .  .  .  For 
it  is  most  necessary  that  the  General  and  his  council 
diligently  watch  over  the  management  of  this  business; 
seeing  that  the  edifice  of  faith  cannot  be  raised  in  our 
neighbors  without  a  foundation,  and  there  may  be 
danger  among  ourselves  lest,  as  each  is  more  learned, 
he  may  endeavor  to  evade  this  duty  [of  instructing  the 
young] ,  as  at  first  sight  perhaps  less  engaging  :  whilst 
in  fact  none  is  more  productive,  either  of  edification  to 
our  neighbors  or  of  the  practice  of  the  duties  of  charity 
and  humility  to  ourselves. ' ' 2  Father  Sacchini  says 
that  this  volunteering  and  application  for  the  wTork  of 
education,  far  from  being  in  any  way  opposed  to  obed- 
ience, on  the  contrary,  is  the  most  beautiful  flower  and 

1  Reg.   Prov.   24.  —  By   a   very   curious   mistake    some 
writers    (as   Professor   Miiller   in   Schmid's    Geschichte   der 
Erziehung,  vol.  Ill,   Abteilung  I,   page  41)  represent  these 
"permanent  teachers"  as  a  separate  and  inferior  grade  in  the 
vSociety,   "who  received  only  a  special  drill  in  pedagogical 
courses  and  were  not  much  esteemed."     And  yet  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  in  the  rule  just  quoted,  states  explicitly  that  the 
members  of  the  Society  should  be  appointed  as  magistri  per- 
petui  after  the  completion  of  their  theological  course.     There- 
fore the  priests  are  meant. 

2  English  transl.  from    Constitutions   of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  London,  1838. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.  437 

perfection  of  that  virtue,  which  St.  Ignatius  recom- 
mended when  saying,  one  should  not  wait  for  the 
Superior's  command,  but  should  anticipate  his  very 
suggestions  and  silent  wishes. 

In  the  second  place  Father  Sacchini  exhorts  the 
teacher  to  devote  generously  his  whole  life  to  this 
great  work.  Some  writers  on  the  history  of  education 
have  stated  that  the  Jesuits,  after  having  been  admitted 
to  Priest's  Orders,  did  not  teach  the  grammar  classes, 
but  gave  only  the  higher  instruction. L  Compayre  goes 
so  far  as  to  assert  that  "in  their  establishments  for 
secondary  instruction  they  entrust  the  lower  classes  to 
teachers  who  do  not  belong  to  their  Order,  and  reserve 
to  themselves  the  direction  of  the  higher  classes."2 
This  is  utterly  false.  L,ay  teachers  are  only  employed 
when  the  insufficiency  imthe  number  of  Jesuits  makes 
it  necessary;  or  for  certain  branches,  as  commercial 
branches,  or  in  professional  courses,  as  in  the  faculties 
for  L,aw  and  Medicine,  preparatory  schools  for  Army 
and  Navy,  in  short,  wherever  lay  experts  are  needed. 
The  history  of  Jesuit  schools,  old  and  new,  refutes  the 
statement  of  Compayre  and  other  writers.  Many  priests 
have  taught  the  lower  classes  for  many  years,  some  for 
their  whole  lives.  Besides,  if  priests  did  not  teach 
these  classes,  the  regulations  of  the  Ratio  about  "per- 
manent teachers,"  the  earnest  appeals  of  Sacchini  and 
other  Jesuit  writers,  would  be  altogether  meaningless. 

Father  Sacchini,  in  order  to  encourage  the  Jesuits 
to  devote  their  whole  lives  to  this  noble  work,  enum- 
erates the  various  emoluments  accruing  from  this 
perseverance  to  the  teacher  himself,  as  it  gives  him 

1  Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  p.  36,  note  a. 

2  History  of  Pedag.,  p.  143. 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

facility,  interest,  and  experience  in  his  work.  He 
further  points  out  the  advantages  of  this  stability  for 
the  pupils  and  for  the  Society.  He  cites  in  this  con- 
nection the  words  of  Ecclesiasticus1:  "Be  steadfast  in 
the  covenant,  and  be  conversant  therein,  and  grow 
old  in  thy  work.  Trust  in  God  and  stay  in  thy  place. ' ' 
The  Greek  text  has,  instead  of*  place",  TTWOS,  i.  e. 
"hard  work,  toil,  drudgery,"  a  word  admirably  suited 
to  express  the  toilsome  labor  of  education.  Therefore: 
"stay  in  thy  place,  bear  patiently  the  toil  and  drud- 
gery necessarily  connected  with  teaching,"  is  the 
advice  given  to  the  teacher  of  the  Society.  In  fact, 
numerous  Jesuits  have  heeded  this  advice,  and  have 
spent  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  and  more  years  in  college 
work.  Not  to  speak  of  times  long  gone  by,  or  of  for- 
eign countries,  we  mention  the  following  fact.  In 
1888,  died  at  Spring  Hill  College,  near  Mobile,  Ala- 
bama, Father  Yenni,  author  of  a  Latin  and  a  Greek 
grammar,  who  for  fifty  years  had  been  teaching  boys, 
and,  at  his  special  request,  always  in  the  lowest 
classes. 

The  Ratio  speaks  more  explicitly  of  the  training 
*of  the  teachers  for  the  literary  curriculum  ;  it  is  under- 
stood that  those  who  have  to  teach  mathematics, 
sciences,  etc.,  receive  a  special  training  in  their  re- 
spective branches.  Other  documents  of  the  Society 
state  this  principle  in  the  clearest  terms.  In  the 
memorandum  of  Father  Clavius,  written  more  than 
three  hundred  years  ago,  it  is  said  :  "In  order  to  have 
always  in  the  Society  able  teachers  of  these  sciences, 
some  who  are  especially  fitted  for  this  task  should  be 
selected  and  trained,  in  a  private  course,  in  the  various 

1    Eccli.  11,  21,  22. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.  439 

mathematical  branches. "  l  In  another  document  we 
read  :  "The  best  way,  perhaps,  is  that  those  who  are 
chosen  for  this  office  [teaching  mathematics]  should, 
after  the  course  of  philosophy,  study  for  a  whole  year 
the  branches  which  they  will  have  to  teach. ' ' 2  This 
special  course,  in  addition  to  the  general  training  in 
mathematics  received  in  the  course  of  philosophy,  was 
certainly  a  sufficient  preparation  for  the  amount  of 
mathematics  which  was  taught  in  former  centuries. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  both  the  general  and  special 
training  of  the  Jesuit  teacher  were  well  attended  to 
before  he  was  sent  out  to  teach. 

Several  weeks  before  the  beginning  of  a  new 
scholastic  year,  .the  young  Jesuit  arrives  at  the  college 
which  is  to  be  the  first  field  of  his  educational  labors. 
After  some  time,  during  which  the  Rector  of  the  col- 
lege and  the  Prefect  of  Studies  have  formed  acquain- 
tance with  the  new-comer,  a  certain  class  is  assigned 
to  him  for  the  next  year.  It  is  according  to  the  spirit, 
not  only  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  but  of  the  whole 
Institute  of  the  Society,  that  great  care  be  taken  that 
the  positions  in  colleges,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  are  as- 
signed according  to  the  talent,  the  knowledge  and  the 
practical  abilities  of  the  individuals.  To  quote  only 
a  few  regulations  of  the  Institute,  the  Constitutions 
declare:  "Every  one  should  be  trained  according  to 
his  age,  talent,  and  inclinations,"  of  course  always 
considering  *  *  where  the  common  good  can  be  advanced 
best."3  The  Provincial  is  told  "to  take  care  that 
those  who  have  a  special  inclination  for  a  certain 

1  Monumenta  Paedagogica,  p.  471. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  475. 

3  Pars  IV,  cap.  V,  Declar.  C. 


44°  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

branch  of  study,  in  which  they  can  distinguish  them- 
selves, spend  more  time  in  this  branch,"  1  —  certainly 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  should  use  this 
knowledge  for  teaching,  or  if  circjinistances  require, 
writing  on  this  special  subject.  \Specialization  is, 
accordingly,  no  new  invention  of  modern  times,  but 
was  recognized  as  important  centuries  ago,  but  a 
specialization  whick  presupposes  the  solid  foundation 
of  general  culture,  j  Unless  this  be  done,  the  educa- 
tional structure  becomes  "top-heavy";  "time,  money, 
and  labor  are  put  on  the  superstructure  at  the  expense 
of  the  foundation,"  as  an  American  writer  complains 
of  modern  educational  systems. 2  The  specialties  to 
be  provided  for  by  the  selection  and  fostering  of  special 
talents,  are,  in  the  terms  of  the  second  last  general 
assembly  of  the  Order  (in  1883),  "ancient  languages, 
"philosophy,  ethnology,  history,  higher  mathematics, 
and  all  the  natural  sciences. ' ' 3  The  Institute  empha- 
sizes the  necessity  of  selecting  the  teachers  according 
to  their  abilities:  "In  universities  and  colleges  learned 
and  able  professors  are  to  be  appointed,"4  and  the 
Provincial  Superior  is  exhorted  "to  consider  in  due 
time  what  teachers  are  to  be  taken  for  the  single 
branches,  and  look,  out  for  those  that  seem  best  fitted, 
who  are  learned,  studious,  and  assiduous  (docti,  dili- 
gentes,  assidui),  and  intent  upon  the  progress  of  the 
pupils."5  Now,  there  is  scarcely  any  studiousness  or 

1  Reg.  Prov.  55  (No.   55  of  the  Rules  in  the  Institute, 
not  of  the  Rat.  Stud.}. 

2  Is   our   Educational  System  Top-heavy?     By  Elliott 
Flower,  in  the  North  American  Review,  February  1898. 

3  See  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  123. 

4  Reg.  Prov.  47.     (Institute.) 

5  Rat.  St.,  Reg.  Prov.  4  and  Const.,  Pars  IV,  cap.  VI,  6. 


TRAINING  OF  THK  JESUIT  TBACHKR.  441 

assiduity  possible,  unless  a  man  takes  a  natural  interest 
in  the  subject  which  he  has  to  study  or  teach.  True, 
the  Jesuit  is  told  by  his  Institute  to  do  everything 
from  a  supernatural  motive  ;  still  in  the  special  field 
of  studies  "  great  success  is  hardly  possible  if  one 
possesses  no  natural  liking  for  such  work,"  as  a  dis- 
tinguished living  Jesuit  used  to  tell  the  younger  mem- 
bers' of  the  Order. 

Different  documents  of  the  Society  state  the  same 
principle  most  emphatically.  We  have  heard  that 
those  men  were  to  be  appointed  as  teachers  of  mathe- 
matics, who  were  especially  fitted  for  this  task,  and 
who  felt  an  inclination  and  a  liking  for  this  branch. 1 
A  second  document  says:  " Those  should  be  chosen 
who,  all  other  things  being  equal,  are  superior  to  all 
others  in  talent,  diligence,  inclination  for  these  sub- 
jects, and  in  the  method  of  teaching.  .  .  .  For  it  hap- 
pens sometimes  that  some,  proficient  enough  in  other 
branches,  are  not  mathematicians,  be  it  for  want  of 
study  or  of  natural  talent  for  this  branch. ' ' 2  The  same 
principle  was,  of  course,  applied  to  other  subjects. 
Father  Nadal  had  laid  it  down  as  a  general  rule  of  the 
Prefect  of  Studies,  to  see  that  all  the  younger  members 
of  the  Society  receive  a  solid  general  training,  and  that 
special  talents  should  be  diligently  cultivated.  "He 
must  take  pains  to  discover  what  talent  our  young 
men  have,  and  endeavor  to  advance  them  accordingly. 
If  one  is  fitted  for  the  study  of  rhetoric,  see  that  he  is 

1  "Necessariunt  etiam  videtur,  nt  praeceptor  habeat  in- 
clinationem  quandam  et  propensionem  ad  has  scientias  prae- 
legendas"     In  the  treatise:    Modus  quo  disciplinae  mathe- 
maticae  in  scholis  Societatis  possent  promoveri.     See  Monu- 
menta  Paedagogica,  p.  471. 

2  De  re  mathematica  instructio.     (Mon.  Paed.,  p.  476.) 


442  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

given  a  longer  and  more  accurate  training  in  the 
humanistic  studies  and  oratory.  The  same  care  must 
be  taken  if  one  is  thought  to  have  a  talent  for  poetics, 
for  Greek,  for  philosophy,  theology,  Sacred  Scripture, 
the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  the  Councils,  and  Canon 
I^aw.  On  the  other  hand,  if  one  seems  not  to  be  fitted 
for  a  certain  branch  of  study,  he  should  not  be  detained 
therein  longer  than  is  necessary  for  acquiring  an 
ordinary  knowledge. ' ' 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society 
and  the  documents  directly  concerning  the  studies, 
from  the  very  beginning,  insisted  on  the  necessity  of 
assigning  each  teacher's  work  according  to  his  natural 
abilities.  The  General  of  the  Society,  Father  Visconti, 
inculcated  this  principle  later  on,  saying  that  " special 
care  should  be  taken  to  assign  the  classes  to  the 
teachers  according  to  their  talent,  knowledge  and 
practical  skill."2  This  must  be  emphasized  much 
more  in  our  days.  For  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
subjects  taught  in  colleges  were  fewer,  and  it  was  not 
so  difficult  to  appoint  teachers.  But  in  our  times, 
other  branches  must  be  taught.  This  cannot  be  done 
effectively  by  the  same  man  who  teaches  languages 
and  literature.  There  are  exceedingly  few  men  who 
can  excel  in  many  branches,  or  can  be  good  teachers 
in  several  of  them. 

Here,  however,  there  is  another  danger  which  must 

1  Ordo  Studiorttm,  in  Mon.  Paed.,  p.   133.     It  appears 
from  the  whole  context  that  by  '-'talent"  a  "special"  talent  is 
meant.    Be  it  added  that  by  "oratory"  and  "poetics"  we  have 
to  understand   all  the  studies  pursued   in  the  two   classes 
"Humanities"  and  "Rhetoric". 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  Ill,  p.  131. 


TRAINING  OF  THE;  JESUIT  TKACHKR.          443 

be  avoided  :  that  of  splitting  up  too  much  the  work  of 
teaching  in  the  same  class.  This  is  most  injurious  to 
education  properly  so-called,  especially  in  the  lower 
and  middle  classes.  One  teacher  should  have  a  prom- 
inent position  in  the  class ;  he  should  be  the  teacher, 
and,  in  the  first  place,  the  educator  of  his  pupils.  For 
this  reason  he  should  teach  as  many  subjects  as  possible 
in  his  class  —  provided  he  masters  them  — ,  all  those 
branches  which  are  more  closely  connected,  as  L,atin, 
Greefk,  also  English,  in  short,  languages  and  literature. 
With  I^atin  and  Greek  it  is  natural  to  combine  also 
Roman  and  Greek  history.  Medieval  and  modern 
history  may  be  taught  by  a  special  teacher.  Mathe- 
matics and  natural  sciences  go  well  together  and  can 
easily  be  taught  by  the  same  teacher.  In  a  word,  the 
Society  wishes  to  have  class  teachers  preferably  to 
branch  teachers.  As  is  well  known,  the  class  system 
is,  to  a  certain  extent,  prevalent  in  Germany.  For 
some  time  the  branch  system  had  been  favored,  but 
experience  proved  that  the  old  class  system  was  un- 
questionably better.  So  the  "New  School  Order"  for 
Prussia,  1901,  strongly  recommends  the  strengthening 
of  the  influence  of  the  class  teacher  as  distinct  from 
the  branch  teacher,  in  order  to  secure,  above  all,  better 
education.  "The  splitting  up  of  the  teaching  in  the 
lower  and  middle  classes  among  too  many  teachers, 
as  well  as  frequent  changes  of  teachers,  are  considered 
an  obstacle  to  any  enduring  educational  influence. 
To  put  a  stop,  as  far  as  possible,  to  these  evils,  the 
provincial  school  authorities  are  strictly  bound  to  see 
to  it  that  a  professor  proposed  as  a  class  teacher  be 
suitable  for  the  position,  and  that  he  teach  in  his  class 
as  many  subjects  as  possible,  so  far  as  his  scholastic 


444  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

attainments  and  practical  experience  allow  it. "  l  The 
advantages  of  this  system  for  education  need  not  be 
demonstrated.  It  is  the  only  system  which  gives  the 
teacher  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  pupil  and  in- 
fluence on  the  formation  of  his  character.  2 

There  is  another  practice  of  Jesuit  colleges  which 
had  for  its  end  the  strengthening  of  the  educational 
influence  of  the  teacher.  According  to  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  it  was  customary  that  the  teacher  should 
not  always  remain  in  the  same  grade,  except  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  two  highest  literary  classes,  of  Humanities 
and  Rhetoric,  where  more  erudition  is  required.  But 
the  young  teacher  should  begin  with  the  lowest  class, 
then  year  after  year  advance  with  the  better  part  of  his 
pupils  to  the  next  higher  grade,  at  least  for  three  or 
four  years.  Thus  the  students  have  not  to  pass  so 
often  from  one  master,  and  consequently  from  one  kind 
of  management,  to  the  other;  master  and  pupil  under- 
stand each  other,  and  if  the  teacher  is  a  good  religious 
and  a  fairly  efficient  teacher,  he  will  have  won  the 
esteem,  the  affection,  and  the  confidence  of  the  pupils, 
all  which  gives  him  inestimable  advantages  for  the 
real  and  thorough  education  of  his  charges.  On  the 
other  hand,  frequent  changes  interfere  considerably 
with  the  training  of  the  pupils.  As  early  as  1583, 
Father  Oliver  Manare,  visiting  the  colleges  of  the 
German  provinces  by  the  General's  authority,  laid  it 
down  as  a  directive  that  "  frequent  changes  were  bur- 
densome to  the  students,  because  they  were  forced  to 

1  Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben^   1901,  p.  75.     See  Mes- 
senger, New  York,  Sept.  1901. 

2  On  this  subject  there  is  a  splendid  article,  written  by 
Father  Pachtler  in  the  year  1880,  in  the  Stimmen  aus  Maria- 
Laach,  vol.  XVIII,  pp.  49—66. 


TRAINING  OF  THE;  JESUIT  TBACHEX  445 

accommodate  themselves  often  to  new  teachers  and 
prefects. ' ' 1 

If,  for  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of  men,  some  of 
the  regulations  laid  down  for  the  training  of  the 
teacher,  were,  perhaps,  not  everywhere  and  always 
complied  with,  the  Ratio  Studiorum  is  not  to  be  cen- 
sured on  that  account,  nor  the  Society  as  such,  as  by 
wise  legislation  she  endeavored  to  obviate  any  such 
shortcomings. 2  Moreover,  the  uniformity  of  the  pre- 
vious training  of  the  Jesuit  teachers,  as  well  as  the 
uniform  system  of  teaching  in  the  colleges  of  the  same 
province,  has  the  effect  that,  although  teachers  are 
changed,  there  is  no  change  in  the  method  of  teach- 
ing. Besides,  is  not  every  institution,  secular  or 
ecclesiastical,  however  well  organized,  open  to  such  or 
similar  temporary  defects?  Exceptional  shortcomings 
must  naturally  be  expected  in  any  system,  as  there  is 
nothing  on  earth  altogether  perfect  and  ideal.  De- 
ficiencies in  individual  Jesuit  teachers,  or  in  single 
colleges,  do  not  prove  anything  against  the  system, 
no  more  than  the  inefficient  administration  of  one 
Governor  or  President  proves  the  worthlessness  of  the 
constitution  of  a  State  or  the  Republic.  Our  contention 
is  only  that  excellent  teachers  are  trained  if  the  regu- 
lations of  the  Jesuit  system  are  followed. 

The  young  teacher  has  received  his  appointment, 
let  us  say  for  one  of  the  high  school  classes,  to  teach 
L,atin  and  Greek.  He  knows  his  grammar  well,  he 

1  Pachtler  I,  415.  — Father  Ledesma  made  the  regulation 
that  in  the  beginning  of  the  scholastic  year  substitutes  should 
be  appointed,  who  had  to  be  ready  to  step  in  if  a  teacher 
should,  by  sickness  or  some  other  cause,  be  compelled  to  dis- 
continue teaching.     Mon.  Paed.y  p.  144,  156. 

2  Reg.  Provinc.  4,  22,  24,  28,  30,  etc. 


446  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

has  in  the  course  of  years  read  many  classical  authors. 
Is  anything  still  wanting?  Indeed  very  much:  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  authors,  facility  in 
handling  their  languages,  skill  in  explaining  the 
grammar  and  the  authors.  All  this  he  has  to  acquire 
by  a  system  of  continued  self-training,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Rector  or  Prefect  of  Studies.  Above  all 
he  must  study  the  classic  authors  themselves.  Second- 
hand knowledge  will  not  suffice  for  the  teacher. 
Reading  over  the  regulations  of  the  Society  in  former 
centuries  concerning  the  preparation  of  the  teachers,1 
one  must  be  surprised  to  see  what  an  amount  of  read- 
ing was  required  of  the  young  teacher,  in  L,atin,  Greek, 
and  history.  Thus  the  teacher  of  the  second  lowest 
Grammar  class  (Media  Grammatica)  had  to  study, 
besides  the  authors  he  explained  in  class,  all  the 
philosophical  writings  of  Cicero  (the  epistles  he  had 
read  the  year  before),  and  some  of  the  orations  of  the 
same  author;  the  poets  Claudian,  Catullus,  Tibullus, 
Propertius,  Martial,  the  first  ten  books  of  Livy,  Justin, 
Valerius  Maximus,  Velleius  Paterculus,  and  the  whole 
of  Caesar.  In  Greek,  Aelian,  Aesop,  and  Xenophon's 
Cyropaedia.  Various  books  on  style,  poetry,  and 
rhetoric.2  The  teacher  of  the  third  class  was  to  study 
all  the  orations  of  Cicero  with  a  commentary;  Horace, 
Seneca,  and  other  poets;  some  more  books  of  I/ivy, 
Curtius,  Sallust ;  the  Philippics  of  Demosthenes.  — 
Every  minute  was  to  be  utilized  in  order  to  master 
these  authors.  Catalogues  of  books  on  philology  and 
antiquities  were  printed  from  which  the  young  teacher 
might  find  assistance  in  studying  and  explaining  the 

1  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  175—235. 

2  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  203—204. 


TRAINING  OF  THK  JKSUIT  TKACHBR.  447 

authors.1  The  young  teacher  has  to  look  not  so  much 
for  pedagogical  theories,  as  for  practical  knowledge. 
He  is  to  read  carefully  the  authors,  closely  observe 
peculiarities  of  their  style,  accurately  translate  and 
intelligently  expound  their  meaning.  It  is  exactly 
the  system,  according  to  which  Professor  Hermann  of 
L,eipsic  trained  his  philologians.  This  practical  method 
of  self-activity  and  self-training  we  find  explained  in 
the  first  part  of  Jouvancy's  commentary  on  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  in  The  Method  of  Learning. 

As  the  object  of  this  training  is  to  form  practical 
teachers,  not  a  word  is  said  about  higher  criticism  and 
the  like ;  but  Father  Jouvancy  urges  the  teacher  to 
acquire  in  the  first  place  a  thorough  mastery  of  three 
languages :  Greek,  Latin,  and  the  vernacular.  The 
means  of  gaining  this  mastery  are  plentiful  reading  of 
the  best  authors,  and  practising  compositions  of  various 
kinds :  letters,  orations,  essays. 

The  second  part  of  the  learning  proper  to  the 
master  of  literature  consists,  according  to  Jouvancy, 
in  the  thorough  knowledge  of  certain  sciences.  "The 
erudition  of  a  master  is  not  confined  to  mere  command 
of  languages ;  it  must  rise  higher  to  the  understand- 
ing of  some  sciences  which  it  is  usual  to  impart  to 
youth  in  the  classical  schools.  Such  are  rhetoric, 
poetry,  history,  chronology,  geography,  philology."2 

1  See  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  12 — 19,  where  lists  of  such 
books,  recommended  in  the  Old  Society,  are  given. 

2  Ratio  Discendiy  ch.  II. — It  has  been  proved  in  chapter 
IV,  pp.  124 — 129,  that  history   and    geography   were    never 
neglected  in  the  colleges  of  the  Society.     In  the  mean  time 
I    found    that    the    Protestant    writers    of    Schmid's    great 
Geschichte  der  Erziehung  (1884-1901),  in  sharp  contrast  with 
the  assertions  of  M.  Compayre,  candidly  admit  the  services 


448  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

As  regards  history,  it  is  superfluous  to  speak  of  its 
usefulness  for  a  higher  education.  History  is,  indeed, 
a  magistra  vitae,  a  teacher  and  mirror  of  life,  a  school 
of  practical  wisdom.  Of  particular  importance  for 
the  teacher  is  the  thorough  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  A  scholarly  appreciation  of  the 
classics  is  impossible  without  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  history  :  political,  social,  religious,  and  lit- 
erary, of  these  nations. 

Here  we  must  say  a  few  words  on  the  teacher's 
attitude  towards  ancient  history.  The  religious  teach- 
er's viewpoint  of  history  is  radically  different  from 
that  of  the  agnostic.  To  the  religious  teacher  histori- 
cal events  are  not  merely  the  products  of  natural 
agencies.  He  sees  rather  in  history,  to  use  the  words 
of  the  Jesuit  Kropf,  " the  wonderful  manifestation  of 
God's  power  and  a  revelation  of  the  wisdom  of  a 

rendered  to  history  and  geography  by  Jesuit  schools  and 
scholars.  Thus  Dr.  von  Sallwiirk  says :  "The  study  of  history 
was  considerably  advanced  by  Jesuit  writers,  but  the  colleges 
of  the  University  [of  Paris]  did  not  imitate  the  example  of 
the  Jesuits."  Geschichte  der  Erziehung,  vol.  IV,  Abtei- 
lung  I,  p.  436.  "The  Fathers  Sirmond,  Petavius,  and  Labbe 
have  well  deserved  of  historical  studies  and  of  the  teaching 
of  history  in  the  schools.  .  .  .  Geography  was  henceforth 
zealously  cultivated  by  the  Jesuits.  ...  Of  great  practical 
importance  were  the  labors  of  the  remarkably  diligent  Father 
Buffier;  especially  on  geography  and  grammar  he  has  written 
good  books,  in  which  the  traditional  scholastic  tone  is  hap- 
pily avoided. .  .  .  His  Philosophy  and  Practical  Grammar 
was  for  a  long  time  considered  the  only  useful  grammar  of 
the  French  language.  ...  In  the  schools  of  the  Oratory  we 
find  geography  as  a  branch  of  study ;  but  to  the  Jesuits  must 
be  allowed  the  merit  of  having  taught  this  branch  before  the 
Oratorians.  In  their  College  at  Amiens  was  trained  Nicolas 
Saiison,  the  'Father  of  Geography'/*  Ibid.,  p.  456  and  466. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JKSUIT  TEACHER.  449 

Divine  Providence."  History,  in  this  sense,  is  a 
record  of  the  development  of  mankind  under  the  pro- 
vidential guidance  of  God;  or,  more  precisely,  a  record 
of  the  systematic  training  and  improvement  of  the 
human  race  by  divinely  appointed  means  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  birth  of  Christ,  that  God  might,  through 
the  coming  of  His  Son,  secure  from  man  a  spontaneous 
homage,  a  worship  worthy  of  Himself.  The  coming 
of  Christ,  in  this  view,  gives  a  definite  character  to 
history,  and  the  periods  both  before  and  after  that 
event  —  the  greatest  in  history  —  constitute  its  two 
grand  divisions,2  the  one  the  preparation  for  the  com- 
ing of  Christ,  the  other  the  spread  and  struggle  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  to  the  final  triumph  on  the  day  of 
Judgment.  Christ,  therefore,  is  the  central  figure  of 
all  history,  "the  stone  which  was  rejected  by  the 
builders,  which  is  become  the  head  of  the  corner. "  3 

From  this  standpoint,  then,  the  Jesuit  masters  will 
study  and  teach  the  history  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Of 
this  viewpoint  he  will  not  lose  sight  when  reading 
and  explaining  the  classic  authors.  It  need  not  be 
feared  that  this  view  will  prevent  the  teacher  from 
doing  full  justice  to  these  two  great  nations.  On  the 
contrary.  In  the  Greeks  he  will  acknowledge  those 
brilliant  gifts  of  nature  which  made  them  the  foremost 
promoters  of  human  art,  human  knowledge,  and 
human  culture.  In  the  history  of  Rome  he  will. ad- 
mire that  wonderful  talent  for  ruling  the  world,  and 

1  Ratio  et  Via,  chapter  V,  art.  9.     (German  translation 
p.  423.)     The  new  Prussian  School  Order  of  1901  uses  the 
same  words  in  regard  to  Church  history,  p.  16. 

2  Alzog,  Church  History,  vol.  I,  p.  6. 

3  Acts  4,  11. 

29 


450  JBSUIT  EDUCATION. 

that  system  of  jurisprudence  which  exercised  so  potent 
an  influence  on  the  formation  of  later  codes  of  laws. 
However,  the  Christian  view  of  history  will  prevent 
the  teacher  from  sharing  that  one-sided  admiration  of 
antiquity  which  was  so  disastrous  among  the  humanists 
during  the  Renaissance,  and  which  is  found  sometimes 
in  the  ranks  of  professional  philologists.  The  Greeks 
were  indeed  a  race  endowed  with  exceptional  gifts  of 
body  and  mind.  However,  we  need  not  and  cannot 
shut  our  eyes  to  their  many  moral  defects,  especially 
to  that  frightful  kind  of  immorality  which  has  received 
its  name  from  the  Greeks,  and  which  manifests  itself 
even  in  the  finest  pieces  of  their  literature. 

Nor  is  the  Christian  teacher's  attitude  towards 
imperial  Rome  very  different.  At  the  time  when 
Christ  appeared  on  earth,  Rome  under  Augustus  had 
risen  to  the  zenith  of  her  glory,  and  the  poets  sang 
that  the  golden  age  had  returned  on  earth.  But  under 
a  glittering  surface  lay  hidden  the  misery  of  slavery, 
universal  corruption,  scepticism  and  despair.  In  the 
midst  of  this  darkness  appeared  the  "L,ight  to  the  re- 
velation of  the  Gentiles. ' ' l  Yet  the  darkness  did  not 
surrender  without  a  fierce  struggle,  the  greatest  which 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  The  history  of  this  struggle 
between  Christ  and  Caesar,  between  Christianity  and 
paganism,  between  faith  and  infidelity,  is  the  keynote 
of  the  first  three  centuries,  nay  more,  of  the  nineteen 
hundred  years  which  have  since  elapsed. 

The  Christian  historian,  although  objecting  to 
Gibbon's  explanation  of  the  spread  of  Christianity 
from  merely  natural  causes,2  admits  that,  apart  from 

1  Luke  2,  32. 

2  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  ch. 
XV.     See  Newman's  criticisms  on  these  chapters  in  Gram- 
mar  of  Assent. 


TRAINING  OF  THK  JESUIT  TKACHKR.          451 

the  intrinsic  worth  and  positive  character  of  Christi- 
anity as  a  divinely  revealed  religion,  external  circum- 
stances also  contributed  to  the  rapid  propagation  of 
the  religion  of  Christ.  He  discovers  that  the  coming 
of  the  Desired  of  Nations  had  been  prepared  directly, 
through  "the  L,aw  and  the  Prophets,"  among  the 
chosen  people  of  Israel,  indirectly  also  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. This  indirect  preparation  was  first  a  negative 
one;  the  ancient  world  had  to  realize  the  limitation  of 
the  natural  powers;  it  had  to  experience  that  all 
progress  in  philosophy,  art  and  politics  could  neither 
quiet  the  mind  nor  satisfy  the  heart,  and  was  utterly 
unable  to  save  either  the  individual  or  the  family,  the 
state  or  society.1  But  there  was  also  a  more  positive 
preparation  of  the  Gentile  world.  The  Greek  methods 
of  philosophy,  especially  those  of  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
in  spite  of  their  many  shortcomings,  became  efficient 
means  with  which  the  early  champions  of  the  Church 
successfully  combated  the  errors  and  absurdities  of 
paganism  and  logically  defended  the  doctrines  of 
Revelation.  Thus  Plato,  in  the  words  of  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  was  a  TraiSaycoyos  ets  Xptcn-dv,  a  teacher  who 
prepared  the  way  for  Christ.  Origeii,  Eusebius  and 
St.  Augustine  see  a  special  providence  of  God  in  the 
conquest  of  the  world  by  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is 
this  tracing  of  God's  working  in  history  which  Father 
Kropf  suggested  to  the  teacher,  and  it  is  in  this  light 
that  he  has  to  study  the  history  and  literature  of 
Greece  and  Rome. 

With  ancient  history  and  the  classics,  the  teacher 
has  to  connect  the  study  of  antiquities.  Those  who 
have  heard  it  said  again  and  again  that  the  Jesuit 

1    Alzog,  Church  History,  vol.  I,  pp.  127—135. 


45  2  JKvSUlT  EDUCATION. 

system  aims  at  nothing  but  ''mere  formalism,  at 
cleverness  in  speaking  and  disputing,"  will  naturally 
ask  in  surprise,  whether  the  Jesuits  had  any  place  for 
these  subjects  in  their  course  of  instruction.  How- 
ever, a  mere  glance  at  the  Ratio,  the  commentary  of 
Jouvaiic}^  and  other  sources  will  convince  any  one 
that  the  teaching  of  antiquities  is  even  prescribed  in 
the  colleges  of  the  Society.  Under  the  name  of 
eruditio,  i.  e.  general  erudition  or  general  learning,  the 
study  of  antiquities  forms  an  essential  part  of  the  ex- 
planation of  the  authors.  The  professor  of  Rhetoric 
(Sophomore)  is  told  that  "one  of  the  three  principal 
points  of  this  grade  consists  in  general  erudition. 
This  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  history  of  the  nations 
and  their  culture,  from  the  best  authors  and  from 
every  field  of  learning;  but  it  is  to  be  imparted  spar- 
ingly and  according  to  the  capacity  of  the  pupils." 
The  fifteenth  rule  of  the  professor  says  that  "for  the 
advancement  of  erudition,  sometimes,  instead  of  read- 
ing the  historical  author,  other  subjects  might  be 
treated,  e.  g.  hieroglyphics,  and  symbolic  signs, 
epitaphs,1  the  Roman  or  Athenian  Senate,  the  military 
systems  of  the  Romans  and  Greeks,  the  costumes, 
gardens,  banquets,  triumphs,  sibyls,  etc. ,  in  short  — 
as  the  Revised  Ratio  has  it  —  archaeology.  The  first 
rule  of  the  professor  of  Humanities  mentions  the 
same.  But  that  it  was  intended  for  all  classes,  though 
naturally  not  to  the  same  extent,  is  evident  from 
Jouvancy's  treatise  "On  the  Explanation  of  Authors," 
which  we  shall  give  in  substance  in  the  next  chapter. 
There  it  will  also  be  explained  why  antiquities, 

1     Iu  1830  the  German  Jesuits  declared  these  three  points 
to  be  antiquated.     (Pachtler  IV,  439.) 


TRAINING  OF  THK  JESUIT  TKACHKR.          453 

according  to  the  Ratio,  should  be  imparted  (< spar- 
ingly. " 

If  antiquities  are  to  be  taught  in  Jesuit  colleges, 
the  teacher  must  carefully  study  them.  This  is  done 
partly  in  the  two  years  of  philological  studies  which 
follow  the  novitiate.  One  of  the  great  teachers  of  the 
first  century  of  the  Society,  Father  Bonifacio,  who  for 
more  than  forty  years  labored  in  the  Spanish  colleges, 
writes:  "In  the  philological  seminaries,  our  young 
men,  besides  studying  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew, 
should  acquire  an  intimate  knowledge  of  history  and 
classical  antiquities."  1  However,  this  archaeological 
learning  has  to  be  acquired  chiefly  throughout  the 
course  of  teaching.  It  will  always  form  a  part  of 
the  preparation  of  the  authors  which  are,  at  the  time, 
read  in  class.  Father  Jouvancy  advises  the  young 
teacher  to  devote  especially  the  holidays  to  this  study, 
which  he  calls  a  useful  and,  at  the  same  time,  pleasant 
change.2 

In  the  Old  Society  there  existed  special  lists  or 
catalogues  of  various  works,  from  which  historical  and 
antiquarian  information  could  best  be  obtained.  Very 
interesting  in  this  regard  is  the  Catalogue  of  the 
province  of  Upper  Germany  of  the  year  i6o4.3  In  an 
introductory  remark  it  is  stated  that  the  list  of  phil- 
ological helps  is  not  made  for  the  old  and  experienced 
professors,  but  for  the  young  masters,  for  the  begin- 
ners; and  a  great  number  of  works  is  given  that  every 

1  Father  Bonifacio's  pedagogical  works  lately  appeared 
in  a  German  translation,  together  with  those  of  Father  Per- 
piuian  and  Father  Posseviu :  in  the  Bibliothek  der  kathol. 
Padagogik,  vol.  XI.  —Herder,  Freiburg,  and  vSt.  Louis,  1901. 

2  Ratio  Discendi,  ch.  Ill,  art.  2. 

3  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  pp.  12—19. 


454  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

one  might  suit  his  own  taste  and  select  those  authors 
whom  he  likes  best.  The  first  part  of  the  catalogue 
contains  the  best  commentaries  on  the  classical 
authors.  The  second  enumerates  works  on  Roman 
Law,  which  will  help  towards  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  writings  of  Cicero.  The  third  gives  the 
titles  of  about  sixty  works  on  antiquities:  Roman 
and  Greek  games,  triumphs,  chronology,  religion  and 
sacrifices,  mythology,  banquets,  costumes,  the  army 
and  navy,  numismatics,  measures  and  weights,  archi- 
tecture, the  triumphal  arches,  the  circus,  the  amphi- 
theatre, topography,  geography,  etc.1  Several  works 
on  these  subjects  were  written  by  Jesuits.  It  will 
appear,  then,  that  although  antiquities  were  to  be 
taught  but  sparingly,  the  information  of  the  teacher 
on  these  subjects  was  supposed  to  be  thorough. 
Jouvancy,  at  the  end  of  his  Method  of  Learning, 
reminds  the  young  master  that  "he  must  beware  of 
superficiality;  he  must  not  be  satisfied  with  a  smatter- 
ing but  should  endeavor  to  master  thoroughly,  to 
exhaust,  if  possible,  that  branch  to  which,  by  his 
natural  gifts  and  God's  will,  he  is  destined  to  apply 
himself.  Above  all  he  must  be  constant  in  his  studies 
and  devote  all  his  time  to  earnest  self-training.  Should 
he  trifle  away  his  time,  he  would  seriously  fail  in 

1  These  works  were  in  the  17th  century  of  the  same  im- 
portance as  at  present  the  standard  works  on  antiquities, 
such  as  Guhl  and  Koner,  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans; 
Schomann,  The  Antiquities  of  Greece;  Mahaffy,  Social  Life 
in  Greece;  Ramsay,  Antiquities;  and  the  works  of  Mommsen, 
Becker,  lyang,  I,anciam,  Boissier,  Friedlander,  Marquardt 
etc.  They  took  also  the  place  of  our  modern  Classical  Dicti- 
onaries and  of  such  great  collections  as  Iwan  von  Miiller's 
valuable  Handbuch  der  klassischen  Alterlumsivissenschaft. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  JESUIT  TEACHER.          455 

his  religious  obligations;  for  God's  glory  and  the 
honor  of  the  Society  demand  of  him  as  much  progress 
in  learning  as  he  can  possibly  attain,  and  one  day 
God  will  ask  of  him  a  rigorous  account  of  his  time 
and  his  work. ' ' 

This  is  the  training  which  the  Society  gives  its 
young  teachers.  It  is  a  solid  and  practical  training, 
one,  we  think,  fitted  for  forming  competent  teachers. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Method  of  Teaching  in  Practice. 

It  was  said  before  that  the  intellectual  scope  of  the 
Jesuit  system  is  the  general  training  of  the  mind ; 
the  means  for  obtaining  this  end  are  the  various  exer- 
cises. In  this  chapter  we  shall  treat  the  exercises  of 
the  literary  course,  and  this  for  several  reasons.  First, 
because  the  study  of  languages  and  literature  should 
form  the  backbone  of,  at  least,  the  secondary  schools 
and  of  part  of  the  college  course.  Secondly,  because 
the  Ratio  Studionim  treats  the  exercises  in  languages 
and  literature  very  minutely,  whereas  it  makes  only 
a  few  suggestions  concerning  the  exercises  in  mathe- 
matics and  natural  sciences.  Thirdly,  because  it  is 
especially  in  the  literary  studies  that  there  exists  a 
danger  to  neglect  the  exercises,  as  is,  in  fact,  the 
case  in  some  modern  systems.  No  one  will  doubt  for 
a  moment  that  for  the  successful  teaching  of  mathe- 
matics continual  exercises  are  absolutely  necessary. 
In  natural  sciences,  particularly  in  physics  and  chem- 
istry, the  equivalent  of  the  exercises  are  the  experi- 
ments and  especially  the  laboratory  work.1  On  teach- 
ing physics  and  chemistry  the  Ratio  has  one  very 
important  remark,  viz. ,  the  professor  should  not  treat 

1  On  this  4^|ect  see  the  able  article  :  The  Teaching  of 
Science ',  by  FatiHr  De  Laak,  S.  J.,  Professor  of  Physics  in  the 
St.  Louis  University,  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education,  1901,  vol.  I,  pp.  904—916. 

(45^) 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  457 

them  merely  theoretically  and  mathematically,  so  that 
no  time  is  left  for  the  experiments  ;  nor  should  he,  on 
the  other  hand,  spend  so  much  time  on  the  experi- 
ments that  the  teaching  seems  to  be  purely  experimen- 
tal ;  but  sufficient  time  should  be  devoted  to  the 
principles,  systems,  theories,  and  hypotheses.1  The 
object  of  all  these  exercises,  be  they  scientific  or  liter- 
ary, must  be  clear  from  what  has  been  said  in  previous 
chapters,  especially  in  the  chapter  on  the  Intellectual 
Scope.  There  we  compared  the  different  branches 
of  study  to  the  tools  of  the  artisan  or  the  dumb  bells 
of  one  who  takes  a  course  of  physical  training ;  the 
exercises  are  the  practical  handling  of  these  instru- 
ments, not  by  the  teacher,  but  by  the  pupil.  The 
teacher  has  to  show  how  they  are  to  be  handled,  but 
then  the  pupil  has  to  lay  hold  of  the  intellectual  tools 
and  handle  them  himself.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  not 
by  merely  listening  to  the  lectures  of  a  teacher,  will 
the  youthful  mind  be  trained  and  acquire  that  readi- 
ness and  nimbleness  which  is  the  object  of  true  educa- 
tion. The  literary  exercises  laid  down  in  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  shall  be  treated  under  four  headings :  the 
11  prelection",  memory  lessons,  compositions,  and 
contests. 2 

§  i.    The  Prelection  or  Explanation  of  the  Authors. 

The  typical  form  of  Jesuit  instruction  is  called 
praelectio.  This  word  is  largely  the  equivalent  of 
"lecturing"  in  the  higher  faculties;3  of  "explanation" 

1  fiules  for  the  Professor  of  Physics  ^34. 

2  For  many  observations  contained  in^pp  chapter  I  am 
indebted  to  the    Woodstock  Letters,  especially  the  valuable 
papers  in  volumes  XXIII— XXV,  1894—96. 

3  Its  equivalent  is  used  in  German,  Vorlesungy  for  the 
lectures  in  the  universities. 


458  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

in  the  lower.  In  either  case,  however,  it  is  something 
specific.1  For  this  reason  the  word  may  be  used  in 
an  English  dress,  as  "prelection".  We  are  here  not 
concerned  with  the  lecture  in  the  higher  faculties, 
but  with  the  prelection  or  explanation  in  the  literary 
or  classical  course.  This  prelection  is  two-fold :  one 
is  upon  the  authors,  the  other  upon  the  precepts  of 
rhetoric,  poetry,  and  style  in  the  higher  classes,  of 
grammar,  prosody,  etc.,  in  the  lower  classes.  The 
Ratio  gives  some  useful  hints  as  to  teaching  the  prin- 
ciples of  rhetoric  in  connection  with  the  reading  of  the 
authors.  Taking  up  a  passage,  let  us  say  of  Cicero, 
the  professor  will,  in  the  first  place,  make  clear  the 
sense  of  the  text ;  secondly,  analyze  the  artistic  struc- 
ture; thirdly,  explain  the  force  and  meaning  of  the 
rhetorical  precept  contained  in  the  passage  ;  fourthly, 
adduce  other  examples  which  are  similar  in  thought 
or  expression,  especially  famous  and  striking  ones; 
cite  other  orators  or  poets,  whether  in  the  classics  or 
the  vernacular,  in  which  the  same  principles  are  em- 
ployed ;  lastly,  weigh  the  words  singly,  comment  upon 
the  propriety  of  their  use,  their  rhythm,  variety, 
beauty.  The  comparison  of  L,atin  and  Greek  authors 
with  those  of  the  vernacular,  that  treat  of  similar  sub- 
jects, was  especially  recommended  by  the  Jesuits  in 
Germany,  in  1830. 2 

The  method  of  explaining  authors  is  sketched  ad- 
mirably in  the  2yth  of  the  common  rules.  The  first 
thing  the  professor  is  told  to  do  is  to  read  the  whole 
passage  through,  unless  it  be  too  long.  There  is  a  very 
good  reason  for  this.  It  makes  an  impression  on  the 

1  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  232. 

2  See  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  439. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  459 

ear  of  the  pupils,  and  accustoms  them  to  the  rhythm 
of  the  language.  Again,  the  reading  is  calculated, 
better  than  the  rules  of  prosody,  to  impress  on  them 
the  correct  quantity  of  Latin  syllables.  Remember 
that  the  boys  are  understood  to  be  employing  L,atin 
words  a  year,  two  years,  before  they  learn  the  prosody; 
they  are  surely  not  supposed  to  be  pronouncing  in- 
correctly all  that  time.  How,  then,  do  they  acquire 
accuracy  in  this  important  detail  ?  Simply  by  imitat- 
ing their  professor.  He  reads  every  lesson  for  them 
before  explaining;  they  read  every  lesson  before 
translating,  when  they  repeat  next  day.  The  rules  of 
prosody  afterwards  only  complete  the  work.  Jouvancy 
observes  that  the  teacher  should  accustom  the  pupils 
from  the  very  beginning  to  distinct  and  articulate 
reading1;  the  same  holds  good  of  the  recitations. 
From  the  first  lesson  in  L,atin  and  Greek  the  teachers 
should  insist  on  the  correct  quantity,  particularly  of 
the  final  syllables  (os,  es,  is,  etc.).  If  in  the  lowest 
classes  the  students  acquire  a  faulty  pronunciation, 
they  will  never  get  rid  of  it  in  later  years.  Some  mod- 
ern teachers  go  to  an  extreme  in  insisting  too  much 
on  quantity  and  other  points.  This  is  affectation. 
Years  ago  many  colleges  used  the  English  pronuncia- 
tion of  Latin  :  pueri  =  pyueray,  etc. ;  others  follow 
more  or  less  the  (European)  continental  system;  of 
late  the  high  schools  and  most  colleges  have  adopted 
the  ancient  or  Roman  pronunciation:  Cicero  =  Kikero, 
etc.  This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  on  a  discussion 

1  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  II,  art.  3,  2.  —  The  same  is  incul- 
cated in  other  documents,  v.  g.  in  Mon.  Paed.,  page  297: 
"Germanam  pronunciationem  iam  turn  ab  ipso  literarii 
aedificii  vestibulo  a  discipulis  suis  praeceptorum  qnisque 
exigat." 


460  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

about  the  relative  value  of  the  different  systems.    The 
opinions  of  leading  educators  differ  considerably.1 

The  reading  of  the  text  is  not  merely  intended  for 
correctness  of  pronunciation ;  the  passage  should  be 
so  read  that  the  sense  may  fully  appear,  and  that  the 
sentiment  may  be  rendered  expressively.  Inflection, 
tone,  quality  of  voice,  all  the  elements  of  elocution 
applicable  to  reading  should  be  carefully  attended  to, 
and  represented  faithfully.  A  distinguished  Jesuit 
professor  even  went  so  far  as  to  employ  gesture  in  this 
part  of  his  prelection.  What  is  easier  in  an  oration 
than  to  put  that  spirit  into  the  reading  which  shows 
the  pupils  that  they  are  not  examining  a  dead  series 
of  words,  but  a  living  organism  with  life  and  feeling 
in  it,  that  they  are  studying  the  actual  expression  of 
real  human  feelings?  One  would  not  be  too  venture- 
some in  asserting  that  the  reading  of  the  passage  well 
done  is  the  very  best  introduction  to  the  matter  studied. 
Of  course,  the  repetition  of  this  excellent  reading 
should  be  exacted  immediately,  as  often  as  possible ; 
the  next  day  at  all  events.  It  will  prove  the  easiest 
and  surest  means  of  teaching  elocution.  The  Rule 

1  President  Eliot  says :  "A  second  interesting  result  of 
effective  leadership  in  a  few  American  colleges  and  schools 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  adoption  of  the  so-called  Roman  pronun- 
ciation of  Latin,  which  being  recommended  by  two  or  three 
Professors  of  Latin  in  leading  institutions,  spread  rapidly 
over  the  whole  United  States,  and  is  now  the  accepted  pro- 
nunciation in  most  schools  and  colleges."  Educational 
Reform,  p.  298.  —  But  Professor  Bennett  of  Cornell  University 
calls  it  a  "fundamental  blunder  and  its  retention  a  serious 
mistake."  The  Teaching  of  Latin  in  the  Secondary  School, 
p.  66.  —  See  Latin  Pronunciation,  a  Brief  Outline  of  the 
Roman,  Continental  and  English  Methods,  by  D.  E.  King 
(Boston,  Ginn  and  Company,  1889.  —  The  Roman  Pronun- 
ciation of  Latin,  by  Francis  Lord  (Boston,  Ginn,  1895). 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  461 

does  not  say  legal,  nor  recitet,  but  pronunciet;  legal 
or  recitet  would  be  satisfied  by  any  reading,  monoton- 
ous or  not ;  pronunciet  necessarily  implies  delivery,  the 
attempt  at  elocutionary  finish. 

The  delivery  of  the  passage  well  done  —  and,  when 
possible,  exacted  immediately,  —  the  professor  pro- 
ceeds to  sketch  the  argumentum,  or  gist  of  the  passage. 
This  he  does  briefly.  Father  Jouvancy,  in  his  Odes 
of  Horace,  gives  us  examples  of  argumenta  which  are 
all  that  could  be  desired ;  other  instances,  found  in  the 
Ratio  Docendi,  will  be  given  below.  Of  course,  the 
professor  gives  the  argument  mostly  from  his  notes, 
and  he  usually,  or  often,  dictates  it,  —  a  reason  for  his 
writing  it  out  at  home.  It  should  be  brief,  pithy, 
striking,  and  clear,  and  given  in  L,atin  in  the  higher 
classes,  in  the  vernacular  in  the  lower  classes. 

Then,  when  the  passage  is  connected  with  the  pre- 
ceding, the  professor  has  to  set  forth  the  nature  of  the 
connection  ;  this  refers  especially  to  points  of  history, 
and,  in  general,  to  such  references  as  come  under  the 
head  of  eruditio.  It  will  seldom  be  necessary  when, 
as  often  occurs  in  the  lower  grades,  the  passage  for 
prelection  is  the  whole  of  a  short  story.  In  Freshman 
class  and  Sophomore,  on  the  contrary,  it  may  require 
some  time  to  explain  this  connection. 

The  professor  next  passes  on  to  consider  each 
sentence  by  itself.  He  explains  each  one,  shows  the 
grammatical  or  rhetorical  connection  or  dependence  of 
its  successive  members  and  phrases,  and,  in  general, 
clears  up  any  obscurities  or  difficulties  which  the  words 
contain.  If  the  explanation  is  in  the  vernacular,1  he 

1  "In  our  times,  besides  the  Latin  interpretation,  there 
is  to  be  added  the  interpretation  in  the  vernacular,  also  in  the 
class  of  Rhetoric."  Pachtler,  vol.  IV,  p.  435. 


462  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

ivS  careful  to  keep  at  first,  as  far  as  possible,  the  order 
of  the  Latin  words,  to  accustom  the  ear  to  the  numerus 
of  that  language.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  then  he  first 
translates  nearly  word  for  word,  almost  regardless  of 
vernacular  excellence,  then  afterwards  returns  and 
gives  a  version,  with  all  attention  to  the  elegancies  of 
diction.  This  last  translation  must  be  a  model  of  the 
vernacular,  the  very  best  the  professor  can  do.  Jou- 
vaiicy  says  that  all  translations  and  dictations  in  the 
vernacular  must  be  in  strict  accord  with  the  most 
exact  rules  of  the  language,  and  free  from  any  defect.1 
The  Ratio  of  1832,  in  the  eighteenth  rule  for  the 
teachers,  insists  on  the  same. 

By  all  odds  the  better  way  for  the  teacher,  as  Jou- 
vancy  has  said,  is  to  elaborate  his  version  for  himself. 
It  is  a  risky  thing  to  rely  on  printed  translations; 
many  of  them,  especially  the  "Handy  Library  Trans- 
lations" and  the  like,  are  frequently  done  in  awkward 
and  slovenly  English.  Further,  as  now-a-days  the 
pupils  have  easy  access  to  libraries,  they  will  soon  de- 
tect what  sort  of  translation  the  teacher  uses.  In 
consequence  the  professor  will  lose  a  great  part  of  his 
authority,  the  first  element  of  which  is  esteem  for  the 
teacher's  learning.  Besides,  as  soon  as  the  students 
have  discovered  the  source  of  the-  teacher's  trans- 
lation, the  careless  and  lazy  ones  will  no  longer  pay 
any  attention  in  class.  Of  course,  the  most  conscien- 
tious and  painstaking  teacher  has  sometimes  to  have 
recourse  to  translations.  But  he  should  procure  the 
most  scholarly  translations,  and  use  them  with  dis- 
cretion. 

There  can  be  no  objection  to  the  teacher's  reading 

1    Ratio  Discendi,  ch.  I,  art.  3. 


MKTHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE).  463 

the  translation  from  his  paper ;  by  which  means  he 
will  be  ensured  against  slips  and  sins  against  idiom, 
such  as  otherwise  can  hardly  be  avoided.  If  he 
chooses,  after  his  own  version,  he  may  read  a  printed 
translation,  which  is  especially  useful  in  the  case  of 
such  works  as  Butcher  and  L,ang's  Homer. 

Notes  and  remarks  are  now  to  be  given.  Many 
professors  prefer  the  alternative  suggested  in  the  Rule, 
of  putting  these  in  here  and  there,  where  they  belong, 
in  the  course  of  the  explanation.  This  plan,  and  that 
of  presenting  all  the  remarks  together  at  the  end,  have 
both  their  own  advantages.  The  former  is  more  in 
keeping  with  unity,  the  latter  affords  a  good  oppor- 
tunity of  going  over  the  passage  again,  and  gives  the 
pupils  an  occasion  to  make  a  little  review  of  what  has 
been  done  so  far.  Repetition  is  always  good  :  it  im- 
presses and  enforces.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
second  rule  of  the  several  classes  orders  that  immed- 
iately after  the  prelection  a  short  repetition  be  "  ex- 
acted' '  of  the  students.  While  the  matter  is  still  fresh, 
this  can  be  done  more  easily  and  will  have  a  more 
lasting  effect. 

The  notes  given  should  be  made  brief  and  striking 
and  should  be  carefully  worded.  Littera  scripta  manet. 
The  Grammar  classes  are  not  to  write  unless  bidden. 
This  evidently  supposes  that  the  higher  classes  may 
write  when  they  choose.  They  are  considered  to 
have  acquired  discretion  enough  to  guide  them  in 
their  choice  of  what  to  note  down  from  the  professor's 
explanation.  The  lower  grades  are  not  to  do  this  for 
themselves,  because,  as  Father  Hughes1  says,  "it 
happens  now  and  then  that,  with  much  labor,  waste 

1     Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  239. 


464  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

of  time  and  to  no  good  purpose  whatever,  the  boys 
take  down  and  preserve  with  diligence  a  set  of  notes 
which  have  not  been  thought  out  very  judiciously 
nor  been  arranged  very  carefully,  notes  simply  trivial, 
common,  badly  patched  together,  sometimes  worse 
than  worthless,  and  these  notes  they  commit  to  paper 
in  wretched  handwriting,  full  of  mistakes  and  errors. 
Therefore  let  the  dictation  be  only  of  a  few  points  and 
those  extremely  select. ' ' 

The  Trial  Ratio  of  1586  bids  the  professor  and  the 
Prefect  look  over  the  students'  note  books  occasi- 
onally.1 This  examination  ensures  the  notes  being 
written  neatly  and  in  order.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  one  great  advantage  of  notes  in  general  is  the 
habit  of  system  which  they  tend  to  foster;  hence  they 
must  be  diligently  seen  to.  The  teacher  leads  the 
way,  as  in  every  other  detail  of  class  work,  by  being 
orderly  himself ;  he  exacts  the  same  care  of  his 
pupils. 

The  Ratio  strongly  recommends  careful  preparation 
on  the  part  of  the  professor.  He  is  not  to  give  the 
prelection  ex  tempore,  but  after  careful  thought  and 
even  writing.  What  a  splendid  thing  it  would  be  if 
every  teacher  could  so  thoroughly  make  himself 
ready  as  to  go  to  class  with  nothing  but  the  text  of  the 
author  and  give  his  prelection,  reading,  argument, 
explanation,  version,  notes,  dictation  and  all  without 
so  much  as  looking  on  his  book  before  the  boys!  This 
would  be  the  perfection  of  preparation  and  has  been 
attained  in  the  Society,  old  and  new,  but  would  pos- 
sibly require  too  much  time  of  professors  of  but  a  few 
years'  teaching.  At  any  rate,  the  one  who  wishes  to 

1     Pachtler,  vol.  II,  p.  165. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  465 

be  successful  in  his  work  and  do  it  faithfully,  will  not 
only  have  taken  the  pains  to  have  studied  carefully 
beforehand  —  the  long  vacation  is  the  best  time  to  do 
this  —  the  book  or  oration  which  he  is  to  explain,  but 
will  never  come  to  class  without  having  prepared,  at 
the  very  least,  some  notes  put  in  order  as  he  designs 
to  give  them  to  the  pupils. 

These  notes  may  be  more  or  less  in  extenso:  if  the 
professor  has  sufficient  fluency  in  expressing  himself, 
they  can  be  simple  jottings,  mere  hints  of  what  he  is 
to  say,  and  in  what  place.  He  will  also  have  care- 
fully fixed  such  points  as  he  means  to  dictate.  It  will 
seldom  be  necessary  for  one  to  write  out  the  entire 
prelection  word  for  word.  Such  a  practice  would  be 
good  at  times,  no  doubt,  by  way  of  exercising  oneself 
in  neatness  and  accuracy,  and  in  style;  but  ordinarily 
mere  notes  will  suffice.  What  will  they  consist  of? 
That  will  depend  largely  on  the  passage  under  discus- 
sion. Now  they  will  include  a  bit  of  history,  the 
narration  of  which  is  called  for  by  the  passage  for 
prelection;  now  geography;  at  other  times  archaeology; 
oftener  grammatical  or  rhetorical  precepts  will  enter, 
and  similar  passages  from  other  authors,  ancient  and 
modern,  may  be  quoted.  When  possible,  these  notes 
should  embrace  such  moral  hints  as  may  be  brought 
in  naturally.  The  teacher  will  depend  to  a  great 
extent  on  such  occasional  hints  for  his  moral  influence 
on  his  pupils. 

A  prelection  written  one  year,  even  if  the  same 
author  is  read,  will  rarely  do  another  if  not  modified. 
The  circumstances  of  the  class  will  have  changed.  A 
prelection  has  this  in  common  with  an  oration,  that  it 
must  suit  the  present  audience.  Contemporary  events, 
30 


466  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

to  which  reference  is  at  times  in  order,  will  differ. 
These  and  other  circumstances  will  naturally  make 
the  prelection  matter  different,  even  on  the  same  pas- 
sage. Each  lesson  should,  therefore,  be  prepared  for 
each  class  especially.  This  is  the  chief  work  which  a 
teacher  has  to  attend  to  during  his  free  hours  each 
day.  It  is  rarely  good  to  make  this  preparation  a 
week  ahead  of  time ;  unless  the  professor  reviews  and 
adapts  his  notes  shortly  before  delivering  them.  It  is 
evident  that  to  prepare  a  prelection  in  this  manner  is 
a  serious  thing,  a  work  by  no  means  trifling;  but  easy 
or  not,  it  must  be  gone  through.  It  supposes  that  the 
professor  spends  his  hours  free  from  class  in  honest 
preparation. 

Repetition  has  been  called  the  mater  studiorum,  and 
in  truth,  few  points  are  of  more  vital  importance.  The 
Ratio  insists  on  repetition  throughout  the  course,  but 
particularly  in  the  lowest  classes.  Without  constant, 
steady,  persistent  drilling  on  the  same  matter  in  the 
beginning  of  the  student's  career,  no  solid  foundation 
for  the  future  literary  edifice  can  be  hoped  for.  Per- 
haps it  is  owing  to  inadvertence  to  this  necessity  that 
in  some  instances  the  fruit  does  not  correspond  to  the 
labor  of  the  professor.  It  has  been  well  said  that 
young  teachers  think  mainly  of  stimulating  their 
pupils'  minds,  and  so  neglect  the  repetition  needed  for 
accuracy  .* 

The  25th  rule  enjoins  explicitly  two  distinct  repe- 
titions, one  of  yesterday's  lesson,  the  other  of  the 
lesson  just  explained.  A  short  repetition  should  im- 
mediately follow  the  prelection.  This  is  of  great 
importance  ;  it  shows  the  professor  whether  his  mean- 

1     Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  p.  506. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  467 

ing  has  been  well  grasped  by  the  pupils,  and,  moreover, 
brings  home  to  their  yet  untrained  minds  the  salient 
points  of  the  previous  explanation.  This  particular 
repetition  should  not  be  omitted  in  the  lower  classes. 
It  does  not  require  much  time,  ordinarily  a  very  few 
minutes  will  suffice.  The  chief  result  to  be  gained  is 
that  the  pupils  should  really  understand  what  has  just 
been  said.  In  this  it  differs  from  the  repetition  of  the 
lesson  which  was  explained  on  the  preceding  day;  for 
the  principal  end  of  this  exercise  is  so  to  fix  the 
matter  in  the  boys'  minds  that  it  may  really  become 
their  own.  The  more  advanced  students  may  be 
called  to  give  the  short  repetition  at  the  end  of  the 
prelection,  whereas  the  duller,  or  perhaps  the  more 
indolent  ones  should  be  asked  especially  for  the  fuller 
repetition  of  the  lesson  of  the  previous  day.  But 
never  should  the  teacher  follow  the  order  in  which 
the  pupils  are  seated,  or  the  alphabetical  order  of  the 
names.  Jouvancy  thinks  that  the  teacher,  before 
going  to  school,  should  go  over  the  names  of  the  boys 
and  reflect  whom  he  is  to  call  up  for  repetition.1 
Every  one  should  have  his  turn,  but  duller  and  in- 
dolent ones  should  be  called  more  frequently,  as  they 
need  it  most. 

The  26th  rule  establishes  an  excellent  principle, 
namely  "to  repeat  on  Saturday  everything  that  was 
seen  during  the  week. ' '  Monday  or  any  other  fixed 
day  will  do  as  well.  By  everything  is  understood  a 
thorough  and  careful  review  of  the  more  important 
parts  of  the  matter  taught,  especially  the  rules  of 
grammar,  precepts  of  style  and  rhetoric. 

Jouvancy  has  drawn  up  several  schemata  or  speci- 

1    Rat.  Doc.,  c.  II,  art.  Ill,  §  1. 


468  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

mens  of  a  prelection  on  Cicero,  Virgil  and  Phaedrus 
as  adapted  to  different  classes.1  We  give  the  sub- 
stance of  two.  Be  it  remarked,  however,  that  the 
same  order  need  not  and  cannot  be  followed  strictly  in 
all  details  in  every  prelection.  They  are  specimens 
exhibiting  a  general  rule,  which  is  to  be  applied  with 
discretion.  Professor  Willmann  has  well  observed: 
•"As  all  similar  schemata  also  Jouvancy's  canon  expla- 
nationis  is  useful  if  applied  properly,  whereas  if  it  is 
carried  through  pedantically  in  all  subjects  and  with 
stereotyped  regularity,  it  makes  instructions  mechan- 
ical/'2 

A.  Explanation  of  a  Passage  from  Cicero  in 
Rhetoric  (Sophomore).  Take  the  exordium  of  Cicero's 
second  Philippic  from  Quonam  meo  fato  to  GUI  prius- 
quam.  We  distinguish  five  parts  in  the  explanation. 

I.  Argumentum.  (Willrnann:  "In  this  part  Jouv- 
ancy  recommends  a  paraphrase  of  the  contents,  whose 
place  is  now  taken  by  the  translation.")  —  When 
Cicero  had  delivered  his  first  Philippic ,  Mark  Anthony 
attacked  him  vehemently.  To  this  attack  Cicero 
replied  in  this  oration,  the  second  Philippic,  showing 
that  Anthony's  invectives  were  groundless,  and  that 
Anthony  himself,  because  of  his  crimes,  deserved  the 
severest  reproaches. 

We  explain  the  exordium  of  the  oration  in  which 
Cicero  declares  that  he  has  incurred  the  enmity  of 
many;  but  that  Anthony's  animosity  was  unfair  and 
less  called  for,  than  that  of  his  other  adversaries,  as 
he  had  never  offended  him  as  much  as  by  a  single 
word.  But  Anthony  believes  he  could  demonstrate 

1  Rat.  Doc.,  c.  II,  art.  IV. 

2  Didaktik,vo\.  II,  p.  387. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  469 

his  enmity  to  the  Republic  by  being  an  opponent  of 
Cicero. 

II.  Explanatio.      (Willmann:     "Linguistic    and 
logical.")  Quonam  meo  fato.    This  may  have  a  double 
meaning;  either:  to  what  misfortune  shall  I  say  that  I 
have  been  born;  to  what  destiny  of  mine  is  it  owing, 
by  what  fate  of  mine  does  it  come  to  pass,  that  on  me 
alone  light  all  the  arrows  with  which  our  enemies  try 
to  harm  the  country;  or:  what  a  happy  and  enviable 
lot  that  all  who  attack  the  Republic  believe  they  must 
become  my  enemies.     Either  meaning  is  apt  to  gain 
the  good  will  of  the  audience.  — His  annis  viginti,  i.  e. 
from  the  beginning  of  his  consulship,  the  year  690 
A.  u.  c.  —  Nee  vero  etc.      Cicero  points  to  men  like 

Catiline,  Clodius,  Piso,  etc Tuam  a  me  aliena- 

tionem  commendationem  tibi  ad  impios  cives  fore  putavisti. 
Construe:  Putavisti  alienationem  tuam  a  me  fore  tibi 
commendationem    \_gloriae~]    ad   impios;    literally:    You 
thought  your  alienation  from  me  would  be  a  recom- 
mendation for  you  to  the  wicked,  i.  e. :  You  thought 
to  gain  in  the  estimation  of  the  destructionists,  if  you 
turned  away  from  me  and  became  my  enemy. 

III.  Rhetorica.     Attention   is   called  to   all  that 
pertains  to  rhetoric  in  the  highest  class,  to  poetry  in 
the  next,   to  grammar,   syntax  in  the  other  classes. 
For  the  class  of  Rhetoric  this  explanation  may  run  as 
follows:  This  is  the  exordium  of  an  excellent  oration. 
The  exordium   or  introduction    has  to  prepare   the 
audience  for  the  coming  speech.     It  has  to  gain  their 
good  will,  and  to  make  them  attentive  and  docile. 
L,et   us   see   how   Cicero   complies   with   these   three 
requirements  of  the  exordium. 

Good  will  may  be  gained  in  three  ways.     First,  by 


470  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

showing  that  the  speaker  is  possessed  of  a  respectable 
character.  Secondly,  by  manifesting  interest  for  his 
hearers'  welfare.  Thirdly,  by  cleverly  predisposing 
them  against  his  adversaries.  The  firs^ Cicero  effects 
by  pointing  to  his  character  to  which  all  feeling  of 
revenge  is  alien,  to  his  previous  career,  and  to  the 
flattering  testimony  of  the  senate  with  regard  to  his 
consulship.  — The  seconcLhe  effects  by  stating  that  all 
enemies  of  the  Republic  had  ever  become  his  personal 
enemies.  —  The  third,  by  imputing  to  Anthony  a 
passionate  character,  hatred  against  his  country,  and 
intimate  friendship  with  the  very  dregs  of  the  popula- 
tion. 

The  orator  gains  attention  by  telling  how  important 
the  point  at  issue  is:  how  the  enemies  of  the  country 
have  become  his  enemies,  etc. 

He  makes  his  hearers  docile  by  briefly  stating 
what  he  is  going  to  speak  about:  little  in  his  own 
defense,  much  against  Anthony. 

Fine  exordiums  of  other  orations  may  be  men- 
tioned, and  also  the  faults  which  are  easily  made  in 
the  introduction.  The  rhetorical  figure  of  subjectio: 
Quid  putem,  its  force  and  use,  may  be  explained. 

IV.  Eruditio  ("General  learning;"  Willmann  trans- 
lates it  appropriately  by  "antiquarian  and  subject-ex- 
planation, antiquarische,  also  Sacherklarung.")  In  the 
beginning  occurs  the  word  fato.  Explain  what  the 
pagans  understood  by  this  and  what  we  Christians 
have  to  think  of  it.  —  His  viginti  annis.  Say  (or 
better:  ask)  in  what  year  Cicero  was  born,  when  he 
was  made  consul,  when  he  died.  —  Bellum  indixerit. 
Explain  how  the  Romans  used  to  declare  war.  (The 
solemnities  of  the  Petioles). — The  word  maledictum 


MP:THOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.          471 

affords  an  opportunity  to  show  the  difference  between 
maledictum,  convicium  and  contumelia.  —  Mihi  poena- 
rum  plus  etc.  A  few  words  may  be  said  on  revenge, 
how  little  it  becomes  a  noble  character.  For  this  end 
copious  material  may  be  taken  from  the  i3th  Satire  of 
Juvenal  and  from  the  Adagia  of  Erasmus.  Illustra- 
tions may  also  be  taken  from  the  treasure  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  Church  History. 

V.  Latinitas.  (Willmann:  ''The  gain  for  vocab- 
ulary and  phraseology,  in  short  the  proper  technics 
of  the  pupils."). 

Bellum  mihi  indixerit,  add  a  few  other  meanings  of 
this  verb.  Mention  the  indictiva  funera,  i.  e.  funerals 
which  were  publicly  announced.  —  Perhorrescere,  give 
a  few  examples  illustrating  the  force  and  meaning  of 
compound  words. 

Verbo  violatus,  similarly:  corpus  violare  vulnere,  ebur 
ostro;  fidenij  foedus,  jura  sacra  violare. 

The  second  specimen  is  on  Virgil's  Aeneid  XII, 
425 — 440.  At  its  close  Jouvancy  adds:  "In  the  second 
highest  class,  called  Poetry  or  Humanities  (Fresh- 
man), the  same  order  is  observed  except  that  here 
more  attention  is  paid  to  poetics.  The  strictly  rhetor- 
ical part  should  be  sparingly  dealt  with.  In  the 
highest  Grammar  class,  grammar  and  beauty  of  ex- 
pression claim  more  attention.  In  the  two  lowest 
classes  the  difference  is  still  more  striking.  Here  the 
teacher  has  to  sail  along  the  coast  and  only  seldom 
may  he  venture  out  into  the  sea  (of  longer  explana- 
tions). He  must  beware  of  the  reefs  along  the  shore, 
i.  e.  he  must  not  become  disgusted  at,  nor  neglect, 
what  they  call  trifles.  To  explain  even  one  little  fable 
will  require  great  skill  and  is  a  sign  of  considerable 
talent." 


472  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  third  specimen  is  the  explanation  of  a  little 
fable  of  Phaedrus  in  the  lowest  Grammar  class.  The 
fable  is:  "Personam  tragicam  forte  vulpes  viderat:  0 
quanta  species,  inquit,  cerebrum  non  habet."  The 
teacher  explains  in  the  vernacular. 

I.  Contents  of  the  Fable. 

II.  Explanation:  Vulpes,  a  fox;  viderat  (translate), 
forte  (translate);  personam.     Persona  now  means  ' 'per- 
son," but  originally  meant  a  "mask,"  as  used  in  car- 
nival masquerades,  and  at  mask -balls,    (per — through; 
sonare,  sound,  speak;  speak  through);  tragicam,  as  it 
was  used  by  the  players  in  Greek  and  Roman  trag- 
edies.    Similarly  explain  all  the  other  words,  and  not 
once  only,  but  twice  or  three  times,  if  necessary. 

III.  Grammar.  Give  declension,  gender  of  nouns 
and  adjectives;  conjugation,  tense,  mood  etc.  of  every 
verb.  This  should  be  done  as  much  as  possible  by 
putting  questions  to  the  pupils.  Vulpes  is  a  noun  of 
the  third  declension;  like  ....  ?  —  Proles,  clades,  etc. 
mention  such  as  are  known  already  to  the  pupils. 
Then  give  the  rules  of  declension,  gender.  Viderat, 
is  a  verb.  What  form  ?  Third  person  singular  Plu- 
perfect Active.  Present  tense?  video.  —  L,ike?  doceo. 
....  Perfect:  Vidi.  Conjugate:  Vidi,  vidisti,  etc.  — 
Why  third  person  ?  —  Forte :  is  an  adverb.  Adverbs 
are  words  which  .  .  .  . — Personam.  What  case?  — 
Why  accusative?  Because  it  is  the  direct  object  of 
viderat.1 — Tragicam,  why  not  tragicum,  or  tragicaf 
Explain  the  rule.  .  .  . 

1  English  speaking  students  have  at  first  great  difficul- 
ties in  grasping  the  rule  of  the  object,  because  neither  the 
article  nor  the  noun  shows  any  case  ending.  However,  it 
can  be  explained  easily  with  pronouns.  Thus  say:  "Who  is 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  473 

IV.  General  Erudition.    Could  not  a  short  descrip- 
tion of  the  cunning  fox  be  given?     Or  could  not  a 
littte  story  be  told?    Or  the  adage:  cum  vulpe  vulpinan- 
dum,  be  explained? 

Tragicam.  A  short  easy  explanation  of  tragedy 
might  be  given.  —  Cerebrum.  The  L,atin  words  for 
other  parts  of  the  head  should  be  added. 

V.  Latinity.    Show  the  order  of  words  and  let  the 
pupils  imitate  it  in  other  sentences,  e.  g.  Fratrem  tuum 
nuper   videram,    which  is  better  than   Fratrem   tuum 
videram  nuper. 

A  short  theme  may  be  written  in  L,atin  :  Fratrem 
tuum  nuper  videram.  0  quanta  eruditio,  dixi,  merce- 
dem  non  habet. 

VI.  Morals.    The  teacher  may  show  that  prudence 
and  common  sense  are  preferable  to  other  natural  pos- 
sessions.    A  short  story  illustrating  this  may  be  told, 
which  could  be  translated  into  L,atin  and  repeated  by 
one  of  the  better  pupils. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison  we  add  a  schema  drawn 
mostly  from  the  writings  of  Nagelsbach  and  Willmann. 
A  careful  examination  will  prove  that  it  is  not  so  differ- 
ent from  that  of  Jouvancy ,  as  might  appear  at  first  sight. 

I.  Preparation.  —  i.  The  passage  which  is  to  be 
prepared  by  the  pupils  for  the  following  day,  is  assigned 
in  class.  The  teacher  gives  extensive  hints  on  difficult 
points,  on  which  the  pupils  otherwise  might  lose  too 
much  time.  (In  the  lower  and  middle  classes  the 
whole  text  should  be  translated.  See  p.  478. ) 
there  ?  Who  is  subject.  Whom  did  you  see  ?  Whom  is  ob- 
ject. —  He  is  there.  I  saw  him.  It  would  be  bad  English  to 
say:  Who  did  you  see,  or  I  saw  he.  So  it  is  bad  I/atin  to  say: 
Vulpes  viderat persona."  These  examples  of  whom  arid  him 
are  especially  fitted,  as  they  show  au  euding  similar  to  the 
Latin. 


474  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

2.  At  home  the  pupil  tries  to  find  out  the  meaning 
of  the  whole  text.     Dots  on  the  margin  should  mark 
the  passages  which  he  could  not  make  out. 

3.  In  class  the  text  is  read  by  a  student. 

II.  Translation.  —  i.    The    boy    who    has    read 
the  text  translates,  the  teacher  and  the  other  pupils 
correct  the  translation. 

2.  Explanations,  linguistic  and  logical,  are  given 
to  understand  the  text  fully. 

3.  A  correct  and  fluent  translation  is  repeated  by 
a  boy  with  the  help  of  the  teacher  and  other  boys.  — 
The  translation  has  to  be  different  according  to  the 
authors :  plain  in  Caesar  and  Xenophon ;  simple  and 
direct  in  Homer ;  elaborate  and  dignified    in   Virgil 
and  Cicero,  etc.    • 

III.  Handling  of  the  Text. 

1.  Explanation  of  contents.     (Realerklarung.     Ex- 
planatio  and  eruditio  of  Jouvancy.) 

2.  Pointing  out  of  ethical  momenta  (quae  ad  mores 
spectant.     Jouvancy). 

3.  Technics  of  rhetoric,  poetry  and  style.   (Rhetorica 
of  Jouvancy.) 

4.  Latinity  etc. :  vocabulary,  phrases,  grammatical 
rules.     (Latinitas.    Jouvancy.) 

IV.  Repetition. —  i.   I^et  the  student  translate  and 
explain  the  text. 

2.  Frequently  let   the   pupil,    instead   of   a   strict 
translation,   give  the  contents  in  Latin,   in  a  simple 
clear  style. 

3.  Always  see  whether  everything  is  understood. 

4.  Put  questions  of  such  a  kind  as  force  the  boys  to 
group  and  view  things  in  a  new  manner.     Thus  they 
are  led  to  reflect  on  the  subject  at  home.     This  advice 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  475 

is  also  given  by  the  Jesuit  Kropf  in  his  Ratio  et   Via 
(ch.   V,  art.   9):    "The  repetition    ought  to  be  con- 
ducted partly  in  the  form  of  an  examination  etc. ' ' 
A  few  remarks  about  the  prelection  must  be  added: 

1.  After  the  ivhole  work  has  been  studied,  a  retrospec- 
tive view  is  to  be  taken ;  the  work  is  to  be  estimated 
as  a  whole,  with  its  leading  ideas ;  as  a  masterpiece  of 
art ;  as  a  product  of  a  certain  age  or  school,  from  the 
aesthetical,  philosophical,  and  historical  point  of  view. 
This  should  be  done  especially  in  higher  classes ;  — 
but  ne  quid  nimis,  and  everything,  in  the  words  of  the 
Ratio:   "sparingly  and  according  to  the  capacity  of  the 
pupils. ' ' 

2.  Longer   explanations   should   not    interrupt    the 
translation,  but  should  be  put  off  to  the  end;  occasion- 
ally, however,  they  might  be  given  earlier  in  the  pre- 
lection, if  the  text  without  the  explanation  would  be 
hardly  understood. 

3.  The  first  preparation  done  by  the  pupils  at  home 
ought  not  to  be  the  principal  part  of  the  work ;  the 
principal  part  consists  in  the  handling   of   the   text 
in  class. 

This  principle  of  the  prelection  of  the  Ratio  Studio- 
rum  is  also  advocated  by  an  able  English  schoolman. 
Sir  Joshua  Fitch  says  in  his  Lectures  on  Teaching,  that 
home  work  should  be  "supplementary  rather  than 
preparatory. ' '  It  should  have  a  bearing  on  the  school 
teaching  of  the  previous  day,  "the  best  part  of  it  is 
supplementary,"  and  the  chief  value  of  home  lessons, 
also  of  written  exercises,  is  to  give  definiteness  to 
lessons  already  learned  (in  class),  and  to  thrust  them 
home  into  the  memory  rather  than  to  break  new 
grounds."  l  And  Professor  Bain  of  Aberdeen  Univer- 

1    American  edition,  pp.  147 — 149. 


476  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

sity  writes :   "I  hold  to  this  principle,  in  a  still  severer 
view  of  it  —  namely,  that  the  teacher  should  not  ask 
the  pupil  to  do  anything  that  he  himself  has  not  led 
up  to,  — has  not  clearly  paved  the  way  for.    The  pupils 
should  not  be  called  upon  for  any  species  of  work  that 
may  not  have  been  fully  explained  beforehand  —  that 
their   own   faculties,    co-operating    with    each    one's 
known   attainments,   are  not   perfectly   competent   to 
execute.     A  learner  should  not  be  asked  even  to  show 
off  what  he  can  do,  outside  the  teaching  of  the  class. ' ' l 
Dr.  Stanley  Hall  said  recently2:   "As  to  the  dead  lan- 
guages,  if  they  are  to  be  taught,    L,atin   should  be 
begun  not  later  than  ten  or  eleven,  and  Greek  never 
later  than  twelve  or  thirteen.     Here  both  object  and 
method   are   very    different.       These    languages    are 
taught   through    English,   and   the   one-hand   circuit 
should  have  much  more  prominence.     Word  matching 
and  translation  are  the  goal.     The  chief  reason  why 
the  German  boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  in  Unter-  Secunda 
does  so  easily  here  what  seems  to  us  prodigious,  is  be- 
cause he  is  taught  to  study;  and  the  teacher's  chief 
business  in  class  is  not  to  hear  recitations,  but  to  study 
with  the  boys.     One  of  the  best  of  these  teachers  told 
me  that  the  boy  should  never  see  a  dictionary  or  even 
a  vocabulary,  but  the  teacher  must  be  a  'pony'.     The 
pupil  should  never  be  brought  face  to  face  with  an 
unknown  sentence,  but  everything  must  be  carefully 
translated  for  him ;    he  must  note  all  the  unknown 
words   from   the   teacher's  lips,   and   all   the   special 
grammatical  points,  so  that  home  study  and  the  first 

1  On  Teaching  English,  ch.  3,  p.  27.     (N.  Y.,  Appleton, 
1887.) 

2  In  The  Forum,  September,  1901.     Article:  "The  Ideal 
School  as  based  on  Child  Study." 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  477 

part  of  the  next  lesson  will  be  merely  repetitions  of 
what  the  teacher  has  told  and  done. ' ' 

The  statement  that  this  is  the  practice  of  the 
German  schools,  needs  considerable  modification.  It 
may  be  partly  so  at  present,  but  it  certainly  was  not 
common  before  1890.  On  the  contrary,  in  German 
higher  schools,  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  it  was  generally  insisted  on  that 
the  students  should  prepare  the  translations  without 
any  or  much  help  from  the  teacher.  In  fact,  most 
professors1  assigned  some  chapters  in  the  author 
which  were  to  be  prepared  for  the  next  lesson  without 
giving  as  much  as  a  hint  about  a  difficult  passage. 
The  next  day  a  fairly  good  translation  was  expected, 
and  by  many  teachers  exacted  rather  rigorously.  It 
was  said  that  this  system  stimulated  self-activity  and 
independent  thought ;  and  more  than  once  the  opposite 
system,  as  followed  by  the  Jesuits,  was  condemned, 
because,  as  it  was  asserted,  it  did  not  develop  inde- 
pendence and  the  spirit  of  research.  But  did  the 
results  of  the  German  system  come  up  to  expectations  ? 
The  less  diligent  pupils  had  recourse  to  all  sorts  of 
1  'ponies", — in  fact,  the  less  talented  were  often 
practically  forced  to  use  other  helps,  as  it  was  impos- 
sible for  them  to  give  a  translation  of  many  passages. 
In  this  way  a  spirit  of  dishonesty  was  fostered.  The 
more  scrupulous  and  eager  students  lost  much  time  on 
difficult  passages,  often  without  finding  a  satisfactory 
translation.  All  this  time  might  have  been  spared  by 

1  These  remarks  are  based  on  the  writer's  own  exper- 
ience. Of  all  his  professors  none  ever  called  attention  to  a 
difficult  passage,  but  the  students  had  to  do  all  by  themselves 
at  home.  This  was  before  the  reform  of  1890—1892.  To  judge 
from  educational  publications  things  have  changed  of  late. 


47$  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

a  few  remarks  of  the  teacher,  pointing  to  the  solution 
of  the  difficulty.  Above  all,  too  much  time  was  wasted 
unprofitably  by  thumbing  the  dictionary.  No  wonder 
that  at  length  serious  complaints  were  made.  Besides 
the  six  hours  spent  in  class,  the  average  student  had 
to  devote  at  least  four  hours  to  hard  home  work,  if  he 
wanted  to  do  all  his  tasks  conscientiously. 

Of  late  years  there  is  a  decided  change  of  opinion 
among  educators,  and  this  change  is,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, a  return  to  principles  which  were  always  followed 
in  the  Jesuit  system.  Thus  writes  Professor  Schiller, 
Director  of  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  in  Giessen,  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  German  educators:  "In  the 
middle  classes  the  preparation  of  the  new  translation 
is  to  be  done  in  class,  and  even  in  the  higher  grades 
this  can  be  done  usefully. ' '  Further,  '  'the  more  diffi- 
cult passages,  and  those  which  contain  many  unknown 
words,  should  be  explained  beforehand. " l  In  general 
1  'new  material  is  added  only  in  class;  the  object  of 
home  work  is  to  strengthen,  practise  and  apply,  what 
has  been  given  by  the  class  instruction. ' ' 2  The  new 
Prussian  School  Order  of  1901  has  laid  down  the 
general  rule,  that  "directions  for  the  preparation  of 
new  and  difficult  passages  are  to  be  given  in  all 
classes ;  even  in  the  higher  grades  the  preparation  of 
a  new  author  is,  for  some  time,  to  be  done  entirely  in 
class."3  Is  not  this  a  striking  justification  of  the 
wise  conservatism  of  the  Jesuit  system  ?  After  a  cen- 

1  Schiller,    Handbuch    der  praktischen    Pddagogik  fur 
hohere  Lehranstalten,  Leipzig,   Reislaud   (3rd   edition   1894), 
pp.  456  and  476. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.   42  and   152;  see  also  Willmann,  Didaktik 
vol.  II,  p.  391. 

8    Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben,  pp.  24,  25,  32,  34. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  479 

tury  of  severe  criticism  and  condemnation,  it  is  thought 
necessary  to  return  to  what  is  essentially  the  Jesuit 
method  of  preparing  the  authors.  And  this  return 
has  been  made  in  the  country  that  prides  itself  on  its 
school  system. 

According  to  the  Jesuit  method  the  teacher  studies 
with  the  pupils,  and  thus  shows  them  how  to  study. 
We  need  now  no  longer  defend  the  Ratio  against  the 
charge  frequently  raised  in  former  years,  that  it  does 
too  much,  in  fact  everything  for  the  pupil.  It  does 
not  do  everything ;  neither  does  it  overtax  the  pupil's 
abilities.  It  follows  the  wise  middle  course,  which 
will  effect  a  solid  training  without  giving  reasonable 
cause  to  complaints  of  overwork. 

However,  some  preparation  of  the  new  text,  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil,  is  useful  and  stimulates  self -activity, 
especially  in  the  upper  grades.  It  is  prescribed  for 
the  higher  studies  by  the  Ratio  which  enjoins  the 
students  of  the  Society  "to  be  diligent  in  praevidendis 
lectionibus,"  i.  e.  in  preparing  the  new  lesson  of  the 
day.1 

Before  concluding  the  discussion  on  the  prelection, 
I  quote  a  passage  from  the  Woodstock  Letters  (1898). 
The  question  had  been  put :  Has  the  method  of  pre- 
lection advocated  by  the  Ratio,  especially  the  plan  of 
translating  the  author  for  the  student,  been  used  in  any 
of  our  American  Colleges  not  belonging  to  the  Society? 
If  so,  with  what  success  ?  —  On  October  31,  1898,  the 
Kditor  of  the  Letters,  the  Reverend  Samuel  Hanna 
Frisbee,  S.  J.,  a  graduate  of  Yale  (1861),  and  a  pupil 
of  the  matchless  scholar,  Professor  Hadley,  answered 
as  follows  : 

1    Reg.  Scholasticorum  4. 


480  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

"The  professor  who  used  the  method  of  the  Ratio, 
and  especially  the  prelection,  was  Arthur  Hadley,  well 
known  as  the  author  of  Hadley 'S  Greek  Grammar. 
He  was  professor  of  Greek  for  many  years  at  Yale  and 
was  known  as  a  fine  Greek  scholar.  Though  he  was 
the  professor  of  Greek  —  there  were  several  tutors  in 
Greek  —  and  far  the  best  Greek  scholar  in  the  univer- 
sity, he  was  appointed  to  teach  the  Freshmen  during 
the  first  term,  from  the  middle  of  September  to 
Christmas.  It  was  thought  best  they  should  have  an 
experienced  teacher,  one  who  would  train  them  thor- 
oughly and  thus  give  them  a  good  start.  During  the 
rest  of  the  scholastic  year  he  taught  Greek  to  the 
Junior  class.  What  concerns  us  at  present  is  the 
method  he  adopted  for  training  these  Freshmen.  It 
was  as  follows,  and  from  its  description  you  can  easily 
judge  how  much  it  resembled  the  method  of  the  Ratio. 

The  author  to  be  read  was  Homer's  Iliad,  and  in 
our  year,  1857,  tne  fourteenth  book  of  the  Iliad  was 
the  book  assigned.  The  students  used  to  say  that 
some  book  after  the  first  six  was  chosen,  because 
Anthon's  copious  notes  to  these  six  books  amounted 
to  a  translation.  The  real  reason  which  was  given  to 
us  at  the  time  I  have  forgotten,  but  it  was  doubtless 
because  this  book  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  of 
the  Iliad.  Whatever  was  the  reason,  the  Freshmen 
of  our  year  were  told  that  the  fourteenth  book  was  to 
be  read.  The  class  —  numbering  1 20  —  was  divided 
into  three  divisions.  The  first  division  went  into 
Greek  for  the  first  hour,  7  A.  M.  ,  the  second  division 
at  1 1 ,  and  the  third  at  5  P.  M.  Professor  Hadley  had 
thus  three  hours  of  class  daily,  but  to  each  division  he 
explained  the  same  matter. 


MHTHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  481 

We  came  to  class,  then,  with  the  fourteenth  book 
of  Homer,  and  to  our  amazement,  Prof.  Hadley  asked 
no  recitation  —  for  we  had  been  already  told  to  pre- 
pare some  lines  of  this  i4th  book  —  but,  after  giving 
a  short  history  of  Homer,  and  of  the  places  which 
claimed  him  as  their  son,  he  carefully  read  through 
the  first  five  lines,  reading  according  to  the  accent, 
and  then  scanning  them.  Then  he  gave  a  literal 
translation  of  these  five  lines,  and  coming  back  to  the 
first  word  he  parsed  it,  gave  the  different  dialectic 
forms  of  it  and,  if  it  was  a  geographical  word,  he  ex- 
plained where  it  was  to  be  found  on  the  map,  and  if 
the  name  of  a  person,  he  gave  a  short  account  of  his 
life.  This  occupied  a  half  hour  and  then  the  class 
was  dismissed.  The  next  day  a  half  hour  was  spent 
in  recitation.  One  was  called  up  to  scan,  another  to 
translate,  and  several  to  parse  the  different  words, 
nothing  being  asked  which  had  not  been  explained 
the  preceding  day.  Then  the  second  half  hour  was 
taken  up  by  the  professor  who  translated  five  more 
lines,  parsing  and  explaining  each  word.  It  is  an  old 
Yale  custom  to  repeat  each  day  the  lesson  of  the 
preceding  day,  so  that  we  really  had  ten  lines  to  trans- 
late and  parse,  five  which  some  students  had  already 
recited  in  class.  This  second  translation  was  recom- 
mended to  be  more  elegant  than  the  first  which  was 
literal,  and  only  the  important  words  were  asked  for 
parsing,  etc.  This  manner  of  teaching  was  continued 
all  the  term  —  three  months  —  only  five  lines  of  new 
matter  being  translated  and  explained  each  day. 
Besides  we  were  made  to  review  thoroughly  the  im- 
portant parts  of  the  grammar.  A  small  book  of  a  few 
pages  containing  the  declensions,  conjugations  and  a 
31 


482  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

few  rules,  was  given  to  each  student,  and  it  was 
repeated  till  it  was  known  by  heart.  The  students 
used  to  call  it  'Hadley's  Primer.' 

As  the  results  of  this  method,  those  who  studied  — 
for  you  know  only  about  ten  per  cent  of  the  students 
are  really  studying  in  earnest,  the  honor  men  — 
acquired  such  a  facility  in  reading  Homer  that  they 
could  read  the  rest  of  the  Iliad  with  comparative  ease, 
while  the  moderate  students  had  no  difficulty  in  pre- 
paring the  lesson  assigned  during  the  second  term, 
which  was  fifty  lines  daily  in  another  book  of  the 
Iliad,  the  eighteenth,  if  I  mistake  not.  Then  we  took 
up  Herodotus,  at  the  rate  of  two  pages  a  day,  after  an 
introduction  about  the  author  and  his  book.  This 
was  also  accompanied  on  some  days  of  the  week  by 
recitations  from  an  excellent  book  on  Greek  History 
—  Wheeler's  if  I  mistake  not. 

Professor  Hadley  was  the  only  one  in  the  Univer- 
sity to  follow  the  method  of  the  prelection  of  the 
Ratio,  but  he  followed  it  most  thoroughly.  He  was 
regarded  in  his  time  as  one  of  the  very  best  professors 
in  the  University,  and  he  merited  this  reputation." 

It  remains  for  us  to  investigate  how  much  is  to  be 
read.  The  first  question  which  presents  itself  is: 
Should  the  reading  of  the  classics  be  slow  or  quick, 
stationary  or  cursory?  It  has  been  said  that  in  station- 
ary reading  the  boys  read  little,  in  cursory  they  learn 
little  or  nothing.  What,  then,  is  to  be  done? 

It  all  depends  first,  on  the  text,  whether  difficult  or 
easy;  secondly,  on  the  character  of  the  book.  Epics 
and  historical  works,  as  a  rule,  should  be  read  more 
rapidly,  because  they  are  in  themselves  slowly  pro- 
gressing, whereas  lyrics  and  drama  should  be  dwelled 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  483 

upon.  — The  Ratio  Studiorum  of  1599  expresses  quite 
clearly  the  principle  enunciated  by  schoolmen  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  28th  rule  says:  "The 
historical  books  [and  epic  poetry  is  of  a  historical 
character]  should  be  read  more  rapidly  (celerius  excur- 
rendus)."  Thirdly,  in  every  case  it  depends  on  the 
pupils'  knowledge,  capacity,  practice  and  age.  But 
above  all  these  two  principles  should  not  be  forgotten: 
in  medio  est  virtus,  and  non  multa,  sed  multum. 

How  much,  then,  is  to  be  read  in  one  prelection?  l  In 
many  modern  institutions,  in  fact  in  most  of  them, 
the  students  are  to  read  and  translate  whole  pages  of 
the  classics  for  a  single  lesson.  The  Ratio  calls  for  a 
thorough  study  of  a  few  lines.  In  the  6th  rule  for 
the  lowest  class,  the  old  Ratio  says  four  lines  should 
be  explained  in  one  lesson,  for  the  next  class  seven 
lines  —  of  course  the  teacher  should  not  stop  in  the 
middle  of  the  phrase.  In  the  Revised  Ratio  no  num- 
ber of  lines  is  mentioned.  If  we  keep  in  mind  that  in 
these  classes  the  pupils  are  gradually  to  be  initiated 
into  the  reading  of  authors  there  is  nothing  surprising 
about  this  small  number  of  lines.  They  are  to  be  ex- 
plained to  perfection,  learned  by  heart  for  the  follow- 
ing day  and  to  be  employed  for  an  imitation  theme. 
For  the  higher  grades  the  old  Ratio  did  not  state  the 
exact  number  of  lines,  neither  does  the  Revised  Ratio. 
Still,  on  reading  the  rules  for  the  prelection  it  becomes 
evident  that  fifty  or  sixty  lines  cannot  be  studied  so 
thoroughly  in  one  hour.  But  are  ten  lines  all  that 
must  be  read  in  class?  Is  this  to  be  understood  as  the 
full  demand  of  the  Ratio?  "At  the  rate  of  ten  lines  a 

1  On  this  question  we  take  some  suggestions  from  an 
article  in  the  Woodstock  Letters,  1898,  p.  185  sq. 


484  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

day  it  would  require  fourteen  months  to  translate 
Cicero's  oration  Pro  Milone,  so  that  to  finish  even  the 
single  speech  within  a  year  many  parts  of  it  must  be 
run  over  more  or  less  rapidly.  At  this  rate  of  ten 
lines  a  day,  it  would  require  more  than  five  years  to 
translate  the  Aeneidj  and  twelve  years  to  translate  the 
Iliad,  or  two  years  longer  than  the  siege  of  Troy 
lasted.  The  Ratio  cannot,  therefore,  wish  to  bind  the 
student  and  professor  down  to  these  few  lines. "  l  It 
wishes  merely  to  show  the  student  how  to  read  and 
study  the  classics,  how  to  do  thorough  work.  Many 
more  lines  are  to  be  read  in  a  lesson,  but  the  few 
should  serve  as  the  model.  The  schemata  of  Father 
Jouvancy  do  not  want  more.  Nor  is  it  to  be  inferred 
that  all  the  lines  are  to  be  explained  with  the  same 
thoroughness  and  at  the  same  length.  This  would  be 
impossible. 

Moreover,  we  are  led  to  the  same  conclusion  from 
the  programmes  of  some  of  the  celebrated  colleges  of 
the  old  Society.  They  prove  with  certainty  that  the 
thorough  study  of  a  limited  number  of  lines  was  not 
considered  sufficient  to  make  a  student  a  classical 
scholar.  In  the  history  of  the  college  of  L,a  Fleche,2 
we  find  programmes  of  the  astounding  work  done  by 
the  students.  Perhaps  the  plan  of  the  Ratio  has  never 
been  carried  out  more  thoroughly  than  it  was  at  this 
college,  which  for  a  long  time  was  a  rival  of  the  great 
University  of  Paris.  Here,  too,  one  of  the  best  com- 
mentators of  the  Ratio,  Father  Jouvancy,  taught  and 

1  Woodstock  Letters,  1898,  p.  186. 

2  Un  college  de  Jesuites  aux  XVII  et  XVIII  siecles. 
Le  college  Henri  Quatre  de  la  Fleche ',  par  le  Pere  Camille  de 
Rochemonteix.     See  vol.  IV,  pp.  165  and  388—403. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  485 

wrote.  When,  therefore,  we  see  the  students  of  this 
college,  studying  hundreds  of  pages  of  the  classics  in 
one  year,  we  must  grant  that  such  a  method  comes 
within  the  scope  of  the  Ratio.1  For  the  rest,  it 
remains  unintelligible  how  any  real  benefit  can  be 
derived  from  the  reading  of  hundreds  of  lines  in  one 
hour.  Jouvancy  well  observes,  the  teacher  should 
remember  that  the  minds  of  young  pupils  are  like 
vessels  with  a  narrow  orifice.  If  you  pour  water  in 
great  quantity  upon  them,  it  quickly  runs  off ;  if  you 
pour  it  upon  them  slowly,  they  will  be  filled  in  a 
shorter  time.  Recently  German  schoolmen  speak  to 
the  same  effect :  "We  must  limit  the  amount  of  read- 
ing matter  and  work  on  less  material,  but  must  try  to 
make  capital  out  of  it  by  a  thorough  and  exhaustive 
treatment.  Only  in  this  way  can  the  '  intellectual 
growth'  be  expected.  Limitation  is  the  first  principle 
of  our  art.  A  clear  understanding  of  the  classical 
authors  must  be  obtained  by  labor  (das  Verstdndniss 
ist  zu  erarbeiten).  For  this  reason  the  modern  ten- 
dency of  increasing  the  amount  of  reading  excessively 
must  be  combated."2  This  holds  good  of  English 
reading  as  well  as  of  L,atin  and  Greek. 

One  part  of  the  prelection  is  called  "eruditio". 
We  heard  that  Professor  Willmann  translated  it,  and 
rightly  so,  by  "antiquarian  explanation. "  For  some 
time  past  there  was  a  tendency,  particularly  in  Ger- 
man schools,  to  devote  too  much  time  to  the  explana- 
tion of  antiquarian  allusions,  a  method  which  was 
detrimental  to  the  linguistic  and  literary  study  of  the 

1  Woodstock  Letters,  1.  c.,  p.  190. 

2  See  Neue  Jahrbucher,  1898,  vol.  II,  p.  82. 


486  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

authors.  Last  year  a  writer1  said  that  it  was  about 
time  to  recover  again  the  real  authors,  Virgil,  Horace, 
etc.,  who  were  almost  lost  in  a  mass  of  archaeological, 
historical,  and  critical  details.  In  fact,  the  "Homeric 
Question"  absorbed  the  interests  of  some  teachers  to 
such  a  degree  that  the  grand  poems  themselves  were 
nearly  lost  sight  of.  Antiquities  should  not  be  taught 
in  high  schools  and  colleges  ex  professo,  for  this  be- 
longs to  the  university,  but  incidentally,  as  some 
antiquarian  subject  occurs  in  the  reading.  Thus, 
while  reading  Caesar,  Roman  military  antiquities  are 
explained  :  the  legion,  weapons,  military  roads,  etc. 
Xenophon's  Anabasis  affords  an  opportunity  for  giv- 
ing details  on  Greek  and  Persian  warfare.  Cicero's 
various  works  will  call  for  explanations  of  the  Roman 
constitution,  courts,  elections,  of  the  different  offices 
of  Consul,  Praetor,  Tribune,  Aedile,  Pontifex ;  for 
descriptions  of  the  forum,  villas,  family  life,  etc. 
Plato's  Dialogues  demand  a  fair  knowledge  of  Athen- 
ian life  and  manners ;  Homer's  epics  can  be  made 
interesting  by  details  of  the  life  and  customs  of  the 
heroic  age  of  the  Greeks,  which  may  be  compared 
with  similar  traits  found  in  the  epics  of  other  nations  : 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Beowulf  and  the  German  Nibelungen- 
lied  (a  good  translation  should  be  read). 

The  practical  method  of  teaching  antiquities  in 
Jesuit  schools  we  learn  from  Jouvancy.  Thus  speak- 
ing of  the  word  fatum,  which  occurs  in  a  sentence,  he 
says  :  explain  the  meaning  which  this  word  had  with 
the  ancients,  and  what  we  Christians  have  to  think  of 
it.  Bellum  indixerit.  Explain  the  manner  in  which 

1  Professor  Pliiss,  in  Neue  Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VII, 
page  74. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.      487 

the  Romans  declared  war.  This  is  described  in  Rosi- 
nus,1  Abram,2  and  Cantel,3  etc.  —  Speaking  of  an 
explanation  of  Virgil's  Aeneid  XII,  425-440,  Jouvancy 
says :  "In  the  fourth  place,  as  to  erudition  :  Major  egit 
Deus :  Explain  which  gods  were  called  Dii  majores  or 
majorum  gentium,  which  minorum  gentium.  —  When 
you  come  to  the  word  clypeus,  describe  the  different 
kinds  of  shield,  show  the  difference  between  parma, 
pelta,  scutumj  etc.,  and  explain  how  the  soldiers 
formed  the  testudo,  etc.  —  Speaking  of  the  ninth 
chapter  of  Cicero's  De  Senectute,  he  wants  some  ex- 
planation of  the  Roman  warship  and  navy,  descriptions 
of  how  the  votes  were  taken  in  the  senate,  etc. 

Another  very  instructive  document  shows  how 
much  was  comprised  under  the  term  "general  erudi- 
tion/' In  1710,  the  text  book  of  the  third  class 
(suprema  grammatica)  of  the  College  of  Aix  in  France 
was  Cicero's  De  Senectute.  The  pupils  had  to  answer 
the  following  questions :  Who  and  what  was  Cicero  ? 
What  is  the  subject  of  his  book  on  Old  Age  f  Why 
was  Cato  chosen  as  speaker  on  this  topic?  Which 
motives  induced  Cicero  to  compose  this  work  ?  Who 
was  Atticus,  and  how  did  he  obtain  this  name  ?  Who 
was  Flaminius?  What  victory  is  recorded  of  him? 
Who  were  Titon  and  Ariston  ?  What  does  the  legend 
say  of  the  former?  What  did  the  Stoics  mean  by  say- 
ing that  we  must  follow  nature?  What  were  the 
consuls,  praetors,  aediles,  and  quaestors  among  the 

1  Lutheran  preacher,  died  at  Naumburg,  Germany,  1626, 
author  of  Antiquitates  Romanae. 

2  Jesuit,  died  at  Pont-Ji-Mousson,  1655. 

3  Jesuit,  died  at  Paris  1684,  wrote  De  Repnblica  Romano, 
ad  explicandos  Scriptores  antiques. 


488  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Romans?  What  the  tribunes  of  the  people,  and  the 
augurs?  What  opinions  were  held  about  omens? 
What  was  the  Lex  Cincia  f  By  whom  and  on  what 
occasion  was  it  made  ?  What  do  you  know  about  the 
war  to  which  Cato  urged  the  Romans  so  persistently  ? 
What  was  the  senate?  What  is  the  derivation  of  the 
word?  Who  was  Naevius?  Relate  what  you  know 
about  his  poems,  his  exile,  and  his  death.  Who  was 
Cyrus  ?  Narrate  the  foundation  of  the  Persian  king- 
dom, etc.  What  was  the  Summus  Pontifex,  the  dicta- 
tor, the  military  tribune  ?  Describe  the  legion.  What 
did  the  Romans  understand  by  clients?  What  were 
the  sentiments  of  the  Romans  about  patriotism  ?  What 
do  you  know  about  Thermopylae,  Tarentum,  Capua, 
Mount  Etna,  Picenum,  Cisalpine  Gaul?  What  was 
the  Rostra  ?  What  do  you  know  about  the  Olympian 
games  ?  etc. ,  etc. 1 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  history  of  literature,  the 
history  of  manners,  customs,  and  political  institutions, 
biography,  mythology,  and  geography,  found  a  place 
in  the  explanation  of  authors.  This  field  was  so  wide 
and  so  attractive  that  there  was  a  great  danger  lest  the 
teachers,  especially  the  younger,  should  spend  too 
much  time  in  antiquarian  details,  to  the  detriment  of 
the  less  interesting,  but  more  necessary  linguistic  and 
literary  training  of  the  pupils.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  both  the  Ratio  and  Jouvancy  exhort  the  teacher 
to  give  such  explanations  but  "sparingly".  By  this 
it  is  not  implied  that  the  information  should  be  meagre, 
but  that  it  should  be  moderate,  not  excessive.  The 
preceding  testimonies  prove  also  how  unjustly  Huber, 
Compayre,  and  others  have  asserted  that  the  Jesuits 

1     Chossat,  /.  <:.,  pp.  337—339. 


OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.      489 

aim  at  mere  literary  dilettantism,  cleverness  of  speech; 
that  they  direct  the  pupil's  attention  not  to  the  thought 
but  to  form.1  This  is  what  they  call  "Jesuitical 
formalism. "  However,  it  is  not  Jesuitical  at  all.  The 
above-cited  questions  certainly  were  directed  towards 
the  understanding  of  the  thoughts  of  the  authors. 
This  method  of  questioning  the  pupils  about  the  con- 
tents, the  ideas  of  a  literary  work,  was  also  eminently 
fitted  to  stimulate  in  the  pupils  self-activity  and  inde- 
pendent thinking.  For  this  reason  Quick's  judgment 
on  the  Jesuit  system  is  not  correct,  when  he  says  that 
it  "suppressed  originality  and  independence  of  mind, 
love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake,  the  power  of  reflecting 
and  of  forming  correct  judgments."2  Should  he, 
however,  take  independence  of  thought  in  the  sense 
now  usually  attached  to  it,  as  unrestrained  rationalism 
which  places  private  judgment  above  the  teaching  of 
the  Bible  and  the  whole  deposit  of  Divine  Revelation, 
then  we  admit  that  the  Jesuits  are  opposed  to  this  in- 
dependence of  thought;  for  it  is  the  proud  spirit  of  re- 
bellion against  God.  Yet  this  is  no  longer  an  educa- 
tional, but  rather  a  philosophical  and  theological 
question,  and  those  authors  have  unwarrantably 
dragged  this  discussion  into  their  books  on  the  history 
of  educational  methods. 

We  stated  before  that  the  linguistic  training  must 
always  remain  a  more  prominent  part  of  the  prelection 
than  the  antiquarian  and  other  information.  Here, 
however,  another  mistake  must  be  avoided,  which 
easily  creeps  into  the  teaching  of  the  classics,  a  mis- 
take which  was  not  uncommon  in  the  German  schools 

1  Compayr£,  Hist,  of  Fed.,  p.  144. 

2  Educ.  Ref.,  p.  50. 


490  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

before  the  recent  reforms,  namely,  to  make  the  authors 
the  means  of  studying,  repeating,  or  *  'drilling"  the 
rules  of  grammar,  etymology,  and  syntax.  This 
makes  the  reading  unpleasant,  as  every  now  and  then 
a  grammatical  rule  is  asked,  paradigms  are  repeated, 
etc. ,  so  that  the  author  merely  becomes  subservient  to 
the  grammar,  whereas  the  very  contrary  ought  to  be 
the  case,  especially  in  the  higher  classes.  This  faulty 
practice  is  altogether  opposed  to  the  Ratio,  which 
assigns  a  special  time  every  day  for  repeating,  study- 
ing, and  drilling  grammar  or  the  precepts  of  rhetoric 
and  poetry. l  The  2yth  rule  of  the  teachers,  which 
lays  down  the  method  of  explaining  authors,  does  not 
even  mention  among  the  various  suggestions  the  ask- 
ing of  grammatical  rules.  Nor  is  this  grammatical 
drill  contained  in  the  schemata  of  Jouvancy  for  the 
higher  classes  among  the  five  or  six  points  to  be  ob- 
served in  the  prelection  of  authors.  There  is  one 
called  Latinitas,  but  an  examination  of  what  is  said 
there  shows  that  it  is  not  a  repetition  of  grammar,  but, 
as  Professor  Willmann  says,  it  deals  with  the  technique 
of  language,  phraseology, .etc.  Jouvancy  remarks  that 
in  the  lower  classes  more  attention  is  to  be  paid  to 
grammar,  which  at  this  stage  is  not  yet  mastered  by 
the  pupils.  This  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the 
Ratio.  The  teacher  of  the  lowest  class  is  told  when 
repeating  the  lesson  of  the  previous  day,  "often  to 
have  words  declined,  or  conjugated,  and  to  ask  ques- 
tions about  grammar  in  various  directions. ' ' 2  The 
teacher  of  the  next  following  class  should  sometimes  do 
the  same.3  This  is  a  wise  prescription,  as  in  the  low- 

1  See  the  second  rule  of  all  the  classes. 

2  Reg.  5.  3    Reg.  5. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.      491 

est  classes  the  pupils  are  to  be  introduced  slowly  into 
the  reading  of  the  authors,  and  the  grammatical  part 
must  be  treated  more  extensively.  But  the  correspon- 
ding rules  of  the  third  class  no  longer  mention  this 
point.  Certainly  in  the  higher  classes,  particularly 
Freshman  and  Sophomore,  it  is  an  abuse  to  make  the 
classics  the  vehicle  of  teaching  grammar.  An  occa- 
sional question  is,  of  course,  not  excluded,  on  the 
contrary  necessary,  whenever  it  appears  from  the 
student's  translation  that  he  does  not  understand  the 
etymology,  or  the  syntax  of  a  phrase.  But  this  is  by 
no  means  the  abuse  to  which  we  referred. 

This,  then,  is  the  prelection,  the  most  important 
and  most  characteristic  point  in  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  add  that  the  Society  needs  no  apology  for  this  part, 
nor  has  she  any  reason  to  attempt  any  change  of  it. 

As  this  manner  of  explaining  authors  is  so  much 
in  accord  with  sound  reason,  we  cannot  be  surprised 
that  the  Ratio  insists  on  following  the  same  system  — 
of  course,  mutatis  mutandis  —  in  the  teaching' of  the 
mother-tongue.  The  authors  in  the  mother-tongue 
should  be  explained  in  nearly  the  same  manner  as  the 
ancient  writers. l  The  very  same  principle  is  em- 
phasized by  some  of  the  best  teachers  of  English,  as 
for  instance  by  Professor  Bain.  This  writer  distin- 
guishes two  methods  of  teaching  higher  Knglish.  The 
one  a  systematic  course,  in  which  "an  exemplary 
lesson  would  consist  in  the  statement  and  illustration 
of  some  rhetorical  point  or  rule  of  style  —  say,  the 
figure  of  hyperbole,  the  quality  of  simplicity,  or  the 
art  of  expounding  by  example.  This,  however, 

1    Ratio  Studiorum:  Reg.  com.  28,  §  2. 


492  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

I  deem  a  superfluous  lesson ;  it  would  be  little  better 
than  making  an  extract  from  a  rhetorical  treatise. 
There  is  another  kind  of  lesson  which  does  not  exclude 
the  methodical  teaching  of  rhetoric,  but  co-operates 
with  that  in  the  most  effectual  way.  It  is  the  criticism 
of  authors,  with  a  view  to  the  exhibition  of  rhetorical 
merits  and  defects  as  they  turn  up  casually.  An  out- 
line of  rhetoric  is  almost  essential  to  the  efficiency  of 
this  kind  of  lesson ;  yet  with  only  an  outline  it  may 
successfully  be  carried  out.  It  suffices  to  raise  the 
questions  most  proper  to  be  considered  in  English 
teaching. ' ' l 

The  second  method  which  this  writer  advocates  is 
that  of  the  Ratio.  Professor  Bain  illustrates  his  prin- 
ciple by  various  examples  from  leading  authors : 
Macaulay,  Samuel  Bailey,  Carlyle ;  and  he  develops 
these  examples  exactly  as  Jouvancy  did  in  the  case  of 
Cicero  and  Virgil.  The  Scotch  Professor  finds  fault 
with  the  "too  much"  of  explanation  on  archaic  forms, 
sources  of  the  play,  etc.,  in  the  modern  editions  of 
Shakespeare. 2  Is  not  this  again  the  principle  of  the 
Ratio  which  insists  on  such  details  being  given  spar- 
ingly? Naturally  the  treatment  of  passages  varies 
according  to  the  character  of  the  book,  that  of  a  sketch 
from  Irving  must  be  quite  different  from  that  of  a  play 
of  Shakespeare,  just  as  a  chapter  from  Caesar  or  Nepos 
is  explained  differently  from  an  Ode  of  Horace,  or  a 
Chorus  of  Sophocles.  We  may  add  a  schema  for  read- 
ing an  English  author.3  The  principles  are  the  same 
as  those  in  the  preceding  schemata. 

1  On  Teaching  English,  ch.  V,  p.  48  foil. 

2  Ibid.,  ch.  VI,  page  85  foil. 

3  See  Fitch,  Lectures  on  Teaching. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  493 

How  to  read  English  authors ,  v.  g.  a  drama  of  Shake- 
speare? 

i.  Read  first  the  whole  piece,  quickly,  uncritically, 
to  gain  a  knowledge  of  its  contents ;  or  induce  the 
pupils  to  do  it  at  home,  but  in  this  case  examine 
whether  they  do  so.  — 2.  Explain  then  part  after  part: 
all  archaic  words,  difficult  constructions,  until  every- 
thing is  understood.  —  3.  Explain  historical  and  liter- 
ary allusions.  — 4.  Explain  the  plot,  the  tragic  idea, 
the  chief  characters  (in  an  oration,  the  proposition 
and  the  argumentation). — 5.  Criticise  the  work  as  a 
whole.  Show  its  excellences  and  shortcomings.  — 
6.  Have  choice  passages  learned  by  heart,  and  de- 
livered well.  Besides,  for  each  lesson  make  the  pupils 
write  something  on  the  lesson  previously  explained : 
let  them  give  the  contents  of  a  scene,  write  a  synopsis, 
criticise  a  passage,  or  explain  a  beautiful  sentence. 
Otherwise  there  is  a  danger  that  some  will  not  even 
look  at  the  author  at  home. 

§  2.     Memory  Lessons. 

The  nineteenth  rule  prescribes  the  regular  recita- 
tion of  memory  lessons.  These  frequent  practices  of 
the  memory  in  Jesuit  schools  have  often  been  cen- 
sured by  modern  writers.1  But  renowned  teachers  as 
Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,2  in  fact,  all  educators  that  are 
not  mere  theorizers,  strongly  insist  on  the  necessity  of 
these  exercises. 

Why  should  we  exercise  the  memory  of  the  pupils  ? 3 
The  answer  to  this  question  in  general  is  :  because  we 

1  "The  Jesuits  maintain  the  abuse  of  memory."     Corn- 
pay  re",  /.  £.,  p.  140. 

2  Fitch,  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  50. 

3  See  Woodstock  Letters,  1894,  p.  325  sq. 


494  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

must  train  the  whole  man.  An  old  adage  has  it : 
"Tantum  scimus  quantum  memoria  retinemus."  Boy- 
hood is  the  best  season  for  memory  work,  and  also  the 
time  when  that*  faculty  should  be  thoroughly  drilled. 
Professor  Sclinell,  quoted  by  Father  Kleutgen,1  says: 
"The  school  of  the  second  period  of  childhood  (10  to 
14)  is  before  everything  else  a  school  of  memory,  and 
during  it  more  will  and  must  be  given  to  and  absorbed 
by  the  memory  than  during  any  other  period  of  life." 
And  Father  Pachtler2  observes  :  "The  lower  the  class 
the  more  is  exercise  of  the  memory  to  be  insisted  on. ' ' 
Again:  "The  mental  power  which  is  first  developed 
is  the  memory.  It  is  the  strongest  in  boyhood  and  in 
the  first  years  of  youth,  and  decreases  gradually  with 
the  development  of  the  body,  until,  in  old  age,  it  is 
confined  to  the  impressions  produced  in  youth,  and  is 
remarkably  weak  in  retaining  impressions  fixedly. 
We  must  strike  the  iron  whilst  it  is  hot,  and  so  make 
use  of  boyhood  for  the  acquisition  of  those  subjects 
which  require  the  most  memory,  the  learning  of  gram- 
mar and  the  languages  which  are  the  foundation  of  a 
college  career. " 

If  it  is  asked  what  should  be  learned  by  heart,  it 
is  not  easy  to  give  an  adequate  answer.  This  much 
is  certain  that  the  more  important  rules  of  grammar 
must  be  committed  to  memory;  then  choice  passages 
from  the  best  authors  in  English  and  Latin,  and  a  few 
from  the  Greek.  Among  the  finest  loci  memoriales  in 
Latin  are  the  orations  of  L,ivy,  v.  g.  that  of  Hannibal 
to  his  soldiers,  the  exordia  of  the  orations  of  Cicero, 
striking  passages  from  Virgil,  some  odes  of  Horace, 

1  Alte  und  neue  Schulen,  p.  57,  note. 

2  Stimmen  aus  Maria-Laach,  vol.  XVIII,  p.  242. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE,  495. 

the  account  of  the  "four  ages'7  from  Ovid's  Metamor- 
phoses, etc.  In  Greek  it  will  be  well  to  have  the 
exordia  of  the  Odyssey  and  Iliad  learned  by  heart; 
Greek  gnomes  are  also  x/aucra  1^  truly  "golden  words"; 
they  may  serve  to  fix  easily  certain  important  rules  of 
syntax  in  the  mind  of  the  pupils.  At  the  same  time, 
they  well  illustrate  —  as  in  fact  the  adages  and  proverbs 
of  every  nation  —  the  most  common  ethical  and  every 
day  life  principles.  To  make  clear  what  we  mean, 
we  may  be  allowed  to  quote  a  few  of  these  Greek 
gnomes  ;  they  should  be  compared  with  similar  Eng- 
lish proverbs,  if  such  exist,  or  with  those  of  other 
nations,  or  with  the  sayings  of  Scripture  and  great 
authors. 

'0  /XT;   Sapeis  dvOpajTros  ov  TraideveTcu. 
ZiJ<rets  fttov  /cpdrurroj',   &v  6v/M>v  Kparys. 


(A  friend  in  need,  a  friend  indeed.) 

OVTOI    7T00'     &\j/€L    rC)V    OLKp&V    &V€V    Tr6vOV. 

(Per  aspera  ad  astra.  —  No  pains  no  gains.) 
fjLa\\ov  r)  TT\OVTOV  Aca\6j>. 


rbv  0eov  <f>6(3ov.  l 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  specimens  from  the 
English.  In  general,  such  passages  should  be  chosen 
whose  contents  are  worth  remembering,  be  it  from  the 
ethical,  aesthetical,  poetical,  or  historical  point  of 
view.  The  most  beautiful  and  most  elevating  thoughts 
from  the  world's  literature,  treasured  up  in  the  mem- 
ory, will  also  afford  considerable  help  for  the  writing 
of  essays. 

1  The  excellent  Greek  Exercise  Book  by  Professor  Kaegi 
(English  edition  by  James  Kleist,  S.  J.  —  Herder,  St.  Louis, 
1902)  contains  a  great  number  of  such  gnomes. 


496  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

A  few  suggestions  may  be  added  about  the  manner 
of  learning  by  heart.  Passages  from  good  authors 
are  to  be  known  word  for  word.  The  same  will 
ordinarily  apply  to  the  rules  of  grammar;  the  precepts 
of  rhetoric  and  of  poetry  may  either  be  gotten  in  the 
same  way,  or  the  sense  simply  may  be  exacted.  The 
matter  which  is  to  be  committed  to  memory  should  be 
understood.  It  will  be  most  useful  to  instruct  the 
pupils  how  to  memorize.  They  should  not  try  to 
learn  the  lesson  as  one  whole,  but  rather  they  should 
memorize  one  or  two  lines  at  a  time,  a  sentence,  or  a 
clause ;  then  the  second  sentence  or  line  of  poetry. 
After  two  are  well  known  they  should  be  repeated 
together.  Then  a  third  sentence  is  learned  and  again 
united  with  those  learned  previously.  The  principle 
of  the  old  Romans :  Divide  et  impem,  will  here  be 
applied.  These  suggestions  may  appear  minute,  and 
it  may  be  objected  that  each  individual  has  a  way 
of  his  own  which  is  just  right  for  him.  However, 
a  little  questioning  of  pupils  will  show  that  their 
method  of  memorizing  is  very  frequently  erroneous, 
and  that  instruction  on  such  matters  will  be  far  from 
amiss.  One  great  mistake  of  students  is  to  try  to  learn 
by  heart  when  their  minds  are  bothered  and  distracted. 
Memory  work  is  best  done  when  body  and  mind  are 
quiet;  impressions  then  made  are  deeper  and  will  last. 
This  is  the  fundamental  secret  of  the  various  much 
vaunted  systems  of  memory  which  have  been  paraded 
about  in  different  times.  Concentrate  the  mind,  is 
their  motto,  and  then  you  will  memorize  with  ease 
and  tenaciously.  Very  few  people,  boys  or  not,  have 
the  self-control  to  concentrate  their  minds  when  they 
are  disturbed.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  it  is 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE).  497 

best  to  learn  by  heart  in  the  early  morning,  before  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  a  new  day  crowd  upon  one. 
Father  Sacchini1  recommends  the  pupil  to  go  over  his 
task  when  walking  or  alone,  the  same  principle,  as  is 
clear,  being  involved. 

When  should  the  lessons  be  recited  f  By  looking  into 
the  Ratio,  in  the  second  rule  for  the  several  classes, 
we  find  that  the  beginning  of  both  sessions  is  set  aside 
for  the  recitation  of  memory  lessons.  On  Saturday 
the  lessons  of  the  whole  week  are  to  be  repeated. 
Father  Sacchini2  speaks  of  monthly  and  yearly  re- 
petitions by  heart.  He  adds  an  exhortation  to  the 
professor  never  to  omit  the  recitation  of  memory  les- 
sons, and  to  exact  them  to  the  letter.  It  is  hardly 
possible,  in  this  case,  to  hear  everything  from  every- 
body, so  the  professor  may  call  on  a  few  only,  or  ask 
but  a  part  from  each.  It  is  very  useful  to  have,  say  a 
whole  exordium,  or  an  entire  description,  thus  repeated. 
Another  such  recitation  is  held  when  a  whole  speech 
or  book  has  been  seen.  This  public  recitation  is  to 
take  place  from  the  platform ;  it  might  be  made  an 
item  in  the  entertainments  given  one  another  by  the 
different  classes.  It  is  incomparably  more  advantageous 
to  the  pupil  to  deliver  thus  by  heart  and  declaim  with 
the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  public  elocution  a  master- 
piece of  literature  which  he  has  been  taught  through 
and  through,  than  to  fit  gestures  and  modulate  his 
voice  to  some  half-understood  and  often  inferior  com- 
position which  he  has  not  had  the  time,  nor  the 
patience,  nor  the  ability  to  make  his  own. 

The  habit  of  giving  memory  lines,  for  punishment, 

1  Paraenesis,  art.  8,  sec.  3. 

2  Paraenesisy  ib.y  sect.  2. 

32 


498  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

from  passages  which  the  offender  does  not  understand 
is  to  be  seriously  deprecated.  If  it  produces  no  other 
evil  effect,  it  at  least  is  a  great  loss  of  time,  seeing  that 
the  hours  so  spent  might  have  been  devoted  to  learn- 
ing something  that  would  educate  all  the  faculties. 

It  seems  very  important  that  the  pupils  should  be 
directed  to  be  careful  to  give  their  memory  lessons 
according  to  the  sense  and  feeling ;  in  reciting  poetry 
attention  is  to  be  paid  to  the  quantities  and,  above  all, 
to  the  caesuras;  then  the  lines  will  sound  like  music. 
This  is  unquestionably  the  surest  way  of  making  good 
speakers,  and  is  far  superior  as  an  elocutionary  practice 
to  any  weekly  or  less  frequent  class  of  elocution.  It  is 
also  for  this  reason  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the 
professor  should  read  the  authors  well,  and  see  that 
the  pupils  read  according  to  the  sense  of  the  passage. 

§  3.     Written  Exercises.1 

Themes,  in  the  broadest  sense,  including  imitation 
exercises  and  free  essays,  are  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance. They  force  the  pupils  to  concentration  of 
thought,  and  give  them  patience  and  facility  in  writ- 

1  In  a  recent  article  in  the  Fortnightly  Review,  Novem- 
ber 1902  ("Are  the  Classics  to  Go?"),  Professor  Postgate, 
a  distinguished  English  scholar,  writes:  "If  the  'dead*  lan- 
guages and  literatures  are  not  to  retire  into  the  background, 
they  must  be  taught  as  if  they  were  alive"  (p.  878).  —  "Trans- 
lations from  English  into  I/atin  or  Greek  is  a  most  valuable 
traiiiing  and  necessary  part  of  classical  training ;  but  it  ought 
not  to  have  superseded  original  composition.  .  .  .  From  the 
first,  speaking  and  writing  I^atin  should  go  hand  in  hand  with 
reading"  (pp.  879-880).  Professor  Postgate  calls  these  "im- 
proved methods";  improved,  surely,  if  he  speaks  of  nearly 
all  systems  in  vogue  during  the  last  century,  not  however  in 
regard  to  the  system  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  always 
practised  this  system,  as  will  appear  from  the  next  pages. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.      499 

ing.  As  we  said  before,  it  is  most  advisable,  also  in 
the  teaching  of  English,  to  make  the  students  write 
at  least  some  sentences  every  day.  A  short  Latin 
theme  should  be  given  almost  daily,  and  a  Greek 
theme  at  least  once  a  week.  It  is  a  good  custom  in 
many  Jesuit  colleges  in  this  country  to  give  an  Eng- 
lish composition  for  Monday.  If  the  principle  main- 
tained by  St.  Ignatius  in  the  ''Spiritual  Exercises"  is 
true,  that  one  advances  according  to  the  amount  of 
his  own  self -exertion,  not  that  of  his  director  merely, 
then  these  provisions  for  much  and  frequent  written 
work  were  well  made.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive,  in 
the  light  of  this  rule,  how  any  one  can  complain  that 
in  the  Jesuit  system  the  pupil  has  nothing  to  do.  He 
rather  has  everything  to  do ;  the  professor  goes  before 
him,  indeed,  and  shows  him  how,  but  then  demands 
personal  application,  and  that  of  not  the  lightest  kind, 
from  the  pupil  who  means  to  advance.1 

The  subject  of  L,atin  and  Greek  themes,  whether 
they  are  a  translation  of  the  teacher's  dictation  or  a 
free  work  of  the  pupils,  should  be  taken,  as  far  as 
possible,  from  the  authors  read  in  class.  Shorter 
single  sentences  must  be  translated  especially  in  the 
lower  classes,  in  order  to  apply  and  practise  the  rules 
of  grammar.  But  the  exercises  should  as  early  as 
possible  consist  of  connected  pieces,  descriptions,  nar- 
rations etc.  and  should  contain  the  vocables  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  authors  read  during  that  period;  in 
short,  the  exercises  should  be  based  on  the  authors 
read  in  class.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury there  was  an  excessive  use  of  so-called  exercise- 
books,  consisting  either  of  unconnected  sentences,  or 

1     Woodstock  Letters,  1894,  p.  329. 


500  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

of  such  connected  pieces  as  had  no  relation  to  the 
authors  studied  at  the  time.  Of  late  years  this  practice 
is  condemned  more  and  more,  and  we  think  rightly  so. 
The  new  "  Prussian  School  Order"  prescribes  the  for- 
mer system.1  And  recently  an  American  writer  could 
state  that  "the  grammatical  training  is  now  brought 
into  more  vital  connection  with  the  study  of  classic 
literature.  The  writing  of  L,atin  verse  is  generally 
discarded.  Prose  composition  is  receiving  increased 
attention,  and  is  now  more  imitative  in  its  character 
than  formerly,  being  commonly  based  on  the  L,atin 
and  Greek  masterpiece  which  the  class  is  studying  at 
the  same  time."2  Is  this  a  new  invention?  It  is 
'exactly  the  method  prescribed  by  the  Ratio.  Thus 
the  3oth  of  the  Common  Rules  reads:  "The  theme 
should  be  dictated  not  off-hand  but  after  careful  con- 
sideration and  generally  from  a  written  copy.  It 
ought  to  be  directed,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  imita- 
tion of  Cicero."  Two  things  are  contained  in  this 
rule :  First,  the  teacher  is  to  write  out  the  dictation 
himself,  not  to  take  it  from  an  exercise  book;  secondly, 
the  dictation  is  to  be  based  on  the  author  studied  at 
the  time.  Cicero  is  mentioned  because  he  was  for- 
merly the,  author  read  with  preference.  Besides,  other 
rules  say  that  the  dictation  may  follow  other  authors, 
especially  historians.3  The  rules  for  the  teachers  of 
the  different  classes  enjoin  that  the  same  method  be 
followed.4  Thus  the  professor  of  Humanities  is  told 
that  "it  is  often  advantageous  so  to  compose  the 

1  Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben,  1901,  pp.  23,  25,  29,  etc. 

2  Education  in  the  United  States,  (1900),  vol.  I,  p.  185. 

3  Reg.  Prof.  Rhet.  1.  —  Reg.  Prof.  Hum.  6. 

4  Reg.  Prof.  Rhet.  9.  —  Prof.  Hum.  6.  —  Prof.   Supr. 
Gram.  6. 


MKTHOD  OF  TK ACHING  IN  PRACTICK.  50 1 

theme  that  the  whole  may  be  gathered  here  and  there 
from  passages  already  explained. ' ' 

Indeed,  this  system  affords  many  great  advantages. 
The  reading  is  made  useful  for  the  writing,  and  the 
writing  helps  considerably  for  the  thorough  under- 
standing of  what  has  been  read.  The  students  will 
have  to  ponder  over  the  author,  to  examine  the  words, 
the  figures,  the  phrases,  and  so  they  imbibe  little  by 
little  the  genius  of  the  language.  Thus  imitation- 
exercises  are  made  useful  and  easy  at  the  same  time. 
The  dictionary  need  not  be  consulted  for  every  ex- 
pression, a  custom  which  entails  much  waste  of  time 
with  relatively  little  fruit.  We  quoted  Dr.  Stanley 
Hall's  words,1  that  "one  of  the  best  German  teachers 
told  him  that  the  boy  should  never  see  a  dictionary  or 
even  a  vocabulary,  but  the  teacher  must  be  a  'pony'." 
This  is  the  old  principle  of  the  Ratio.  The  teacher  is 
told  that  "after  the  dictation  of  the  theme  he  should 
straightway  call  for  the  reading  of  the  theme.  Then 
he  should  explain  anything  that  may  be  difficult, 
suggest  words,  phrases  and  other  helps. " 2  Is  not 
here  the  teacher,  what  modern  educators  want  him  to 
be  in  their  'ideal  school,'  the  boy's  dictionary,  vocab- 
ulary and  'pony'?  But  above  all  this  practice  pro- 
duces unity  in  the  various  exercises.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  same  principle  can  be  followed  with  best 
success  in  the  teaching  of  English.  The  compositions 
ought  to  be  based  on  the  work  studied  in  class.3 

1  From  The  Forum,  Sept.  1901 ;  "The  Ideal  School." 

2  Reg.  com.  30. 

3  How  this  can  be  done  may  be  seen  from  a  little  book 
recently  published  by  a  Jesuit:   Imitation   and   Analysis; 
English  Exercises  based  on  Irving" s  Sketch  Book,  by  F.  Don- 
nelly, S.  J.     (Boston,  1902,  Allyu  and  Bacon.) 


502  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  imitation  exercises  should,  however,  not  be  a 
slavish  imitation  of  the  author;  there  may  be  a  great 
variety  in  these  exercises.  Father  Jouvancy  gives 
some  valuable  hints  on  this  subject.1  " Translate, " 
he  writes,  "a  passage,  say  from  Cicero,  into  the  native 
tongue;  afterwards,  without  looking  at  Cicero,  retrans- 
late it  into  Latin.  Then  compare  your  Latin  with 
that  of  Cicero  and  correct  yours  wherever  it  is  neces- 
sary. Experience  has  proved  that  many  have  greatly 
benefited  by  this  excellent  practice.  Another  time 
you  may  write  out  a  sketch  of  an  argument  or  write 
down  the  train  of  thought  found  in  the  original 
author,  then  work  it  out,  clothe,  as  it  were,  this 
skeleton  with  flesh  and  nerves.  This  being  finished 
the  new  production  is  to  be  compared  with  the 
original ;  not  only  will  the  difference  appear  but  also 
many  improvements  will  be  suggested.  There  is  a 
third  way  of  imitating  authors.  Take  a  beautiful 
passage  from  an  author,  change  the  subject  matter 
into  one  similar  or  opposite.  Then,  following  in  the 
foot-steps  of  the  author,  use,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
same  figures,  periods,  connections,  transitions.  Thus 
in  the  oration  against  Piso,  Cicero  shows  that  a 
seditious  mob  is  not  to  be  honored  with  the  name  of  • 
the  ' Roman  people.'  In  a  similar  manner  it  may  be 
shown  who  really  deserves  to  be  styled  a  Christian,  a 
gentleman,  a  scholar."  Jouvancy  justly  remarks  that 
this  method  of  self -training  is  the  best  substitute,  if 
another  instructor  and  guide  cannot  be  obtained. 
For  the  great  authors  themselves  become  the  teachers, 
guides  and  correctors  of  the  student. 

1    Ratio  Discendi,  ch.  1,  art.  2,  4.  —  Cf.  Quintilian,  Inst. 
Or.  X,  2. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  503 

That  such  imitations  may  be  masterpieces  in  them- 
selves, is  proved  by  more  than  one  instance.  A  great 
number  of  the  works  of  L,atin  writers  are  imitations  of 
Greek  types.  And  many  *  fiery  harangues  of  the 
speakers  of  the  French  Revolution  are  fashioned  after 
Cicero's  invectives  against  Catiline  and  Anthony. 

Every  one  sees  that  this  excellent  method  of 
imitating  good  authors  can  be  applied  to  the  study  of 
English  with  the  greatest  advantage.2  He  who  takes 
a  descriptive  passage  from  Washington  Irving,  or  an 
argument  from  Burke,  Pitt,  or  Webster  and  works  it- 
out  according  to  these  rules  of  Jouvancy,  will  surely 
improve  his  style  —  provided  he  keeps  for  a  long  time 
to  the  same  author.  For  changing  from  one  author  to 
another,  as  a  butterfly  flits  from  flower  to  flower,  like 
all  desultory  work,  will  produce  very  little  result. 

The  correction  of  the  written  exercises  is  a  very 
troublesome  and  uninteresting  work,  the  worst 
drudgery  of  the  teacher's  daily  life.  But  it  is,  as  the 
2ist  rule  says,  of  the  greatest  importance  and  there- 
fore to  be  done  conscientiously.  The  Ratio  advises 
the  teacher  to  correct  the  exercises  in  class,  while  the 
boys  are  writing  or  studying  for  themselves.  One  boy 
after  the  other  is  called  up  to  the  teacher's  desk,  and 
his  mistakes  are  pointed  out  to  him;  he  may  himself 
be  asked  why  it  is  wrong  and  correct  it  himself ;  par- 
ticular instructions  may  be  given,  a  word  of  praise  or  of 
rebuke  may  be  added.  Such  private  corrections  afford 
many  advantages.  But  much  time  may  be  lost  to 
teaching  and  for  this  reason  the  rule  says  "those 

1  See  Zielinski,  Cicero  im  Wandel  der  Jahrhunderte. 

2  Compare  the  excellent  observations  on  the  value  of 
the  "Reproduction  of  the  Thought  of  Others,"  in  Genung's 
Practical  Rhetoric,  pp.  301—325. 


504  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

themes  which,  owing  to  the  great  number,  cannot  be 
corrected  in  class,  should  be  corrected  at  home." 
Many  teachers  have  the  following  system.  They 
correct  all  themes  at  home  and  return  them  to  the 
students  the  following  day,  with  the  mistakes  marked. 
Then,  if  it  is  a  dictation,  a  boy  is  called  up  to  trans- 
late, the  other  boys  correct  him,  all  comparing  their 
own  translations.  The  pupils  will  see  in  most  cases 
why  their  translations  are  marked,  if  not,  they  should 
ask  immediately,  and  the  teacher  may  ask  other  boys 
why  such  and  such  a  translation  is  a  mistake.  A 
correct  copy  should  then  be  made,  dictated  by  the 
teacher;  in  lower  classes  it  may  be  well  to  have  it 
written  by  someone  on  the  blackboard. 

It  is  evident  that  great  neatness  is  to  be  insisted  on 
in  the  themes.  It  is  easier  to  keep  paper  neat  and 
clean  if  the  themes  be  exacted  on  single  sheets.  But 
the  boys  will,  as  a  rule,  be  more  careful,  if  they  have 
copy  books,  which  are  to  be  used  until  they  are  filled. 
They  do  not  like  to  see  many  mistakes  in  their  copy 
books.  In  the  German  and  Austrian  gymnasia  there 
exists  an  admirable  system.  Every  exercise  in  the 
copy-book  has  at  the  top  the  running  number,  opposite 
on  the  margin  the  date.  Corrections  of  the  teachers 
and  marks  are  made  in  red  ink :  the  pupils'  correc- 
tions are  to  be  added  at  the  end.  Every  month  one 
review  in  L,atin  and  one  in  Greek,  written  in  ink 
on  single  sheets  of  the  same  size  and  kind,  marked  by 
the  teacher,  are  to  be  handed  in  to  the  Director  of  the 
institution,  who  at  any  time  may  also  ask  for  the 
copy-books  of  the  class.  The  Government-  Inspectors, 
who  from  time  to  time  visit  the  colleges,  carefully 
examine  the  copy-books,  thus  controlling  the  work  of 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  505 

teachers  and  pupils  alike.  This  system  has  many  and 
great  advantages.  It  requires  hard  and  conscientious 
work  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  especially,  but  is 
producing  admirable  results.  A  similar  system  exists  in 
some  Jesuit  colleges.  During  the  semi-annual  exam- 
inations all  the  copy-books  are  exhibited  in  the  class 
room  or  wherever  the  examination  is  conducted,  to  be 
inspected  by  the  President,  and  the  Prefect  of  Studies. 
It  is  very  important  that  the  copy-books  be  returned 
as  soon  as  possible,  as  the  work  done  by  the  pupils  is 
still  fresh  in  their  mind.  An  exception  to  this  rule 
must  necessarily  be  made  in  the  case  of  English  com- 
position, especially  longer  essays,  the  correction  of 
which  naturally  requires  more  time. 

This  exercise  of  writing  L,atin  and  Greek  themes, 
particularly  free  L,atin  compositions,  has  within  the  last 
decades  met  with  great  opposition.  And  yet,  no  exer- 
cise is  more  useful  and  more  necessary  if  a  solid  know- 
ledge of  these  languages  is  to  be  obtained.  The  read- 
ing of  authors  alone  will  not  suffice.  This  is  the 
conviction  of  the  most  experienced  schoolmen.  Even 
Greek  exercises  must  be  written,  that  a  firmer  hold 
may  be  obtained  on  the  facts  of  accidence,  of  syntax, 
and  of  idiom. 1  And  without  any  practice  in  writing 
the  understanding  of  the  classical  authors  will  scarcely 
be  more  than  superficial. 2  Even  the  writing  of  L,atin 
verse  may  not  be  so  useless  as  some  represent  it.  Quite 
recently  one  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of 
Germany,  Professor  von  Wilamowitz,  of  the  Berlin 
University,  made  a  strong  plea  for  this  much  decried 

1     Bristol,   The  Teaching  of  Greek,  p.  301.      See  on  pp. 
298 — 307  some  excellent  remarks  on  Greek  compositions. 
Bennett,   The  Teaching  of  Latin,  p.  172. 


506  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

exercise.1  Similarly  Dr.  Ilberg  of  Leipsic,  who  wrote 
last  year:  "The  'antiquated'  art  of  writing  L,atin 
verses  does  not  deserve  the  contempt  and  the  sneers 
with  which  it  has  been  treated.  It  is  an  exercise 
which  requires  not  only  knowledge  of  the  language, 
but  also  exertion  of  the  imagination.  The  writing  of 
Latin  verses  belongs  to  those  exercises  which  challenge 
the  pupil  to  produce  something  of  his  own,  and  which 
make  him  enjoy  the  pleasant  sensation  of  having 
achieved  something. ' ' 2  Hence  Sir  Joshua  Fitch  goes 
beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation  when  he  asserts  that 
"enormous  injury  is  done  to  the  rank  and  file  of  boys 
by  this  antiquated  and  soulless  exercise  ;  which  inevi- 
tably produces  weariness  and  disgust,  and  sets  a  false 
and  ignoble  ideal  of  scholarship  before  the  pupils. ' ' 3 
There  is  in  this  sweeping  condemnation,  as  in  most 
similar  indictments  of  old  customs,  a  false  supposition. 
We  doubt  whether  any  one  considers  the  *  'manufacture 
of  I/atin  verses  the  ultimate  test,  the  ideal  and  crown 
of  scholarship."  Still,  it  is  one  of  the  many  means, 
although  a  very  subordinate  one,  of  acquiring  an 
accomplished  and  all  around  scholarship.  Above  all, 
the  writing  of  verses  will  help  to  appreciate  more  fully 
the  classical  poets. 

In  this  connection  we  must  say  a  few  words  on 
another  exercise,  much  insisted  on  by  the  Ratio,  viz. 
speaking  L,atin.  Few  points  of  the  Ratio  have  been 
more  misrepresented  and  derided  than  this.  But  this 
without  good  cause.  Facility  in  speaking  L,atin  is  not 
the  principal  aim  of  the  Jesuit  system.  This  follows 

1  Reden  mid  Vortrdge,  Berlin,  1901. 

2  Neue  Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VII,  p.  71. 

3  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  39. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE).  507 

from  the  tenor  of  the  whole  Ratio,  and  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  our  former  statement  that  branches  of  study 
are  merely  the  means  to  attain  the  one  object  of  all 
instruction,  the  cultivation  of  the  mind.  A  language 
—  so  our  modern  educators  say  —  is  learned  much 
more  quickly,  if  spoken  ;  it  becomes  easy  and  familiar 
and,  in  a  way,  natural.  That  the  speaking  of  Latin 
is,  after  all,  not  so  absurd,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  ablest  scholars  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury have  advocated  it.  Thus  the  great  Latinist,  Dr. 
Seyffert,  says:  "Without  speaking,  the  writing  of 
Latin  will  always  remain  a  half-measure  and  patch- 
work." Also  Dr.  Dettweiler,  one  of  the  best  modern 
authorities  on  the  study  of  Latin,  recommends  the 
speaking  of  this  language.1  However,  the  attitude  of 
the  Society  in  this  point  has  changed.  The  Society 
adapts  itself  in  this  respect,  as  in  many  others,  to  the 
tendency  of  the  times.  This  may  be  inferred  from  a 
comparison  between  the  Ratio  of  1599  and  that  of 
1832.  The  old  Ratio  enjoins  the  teacher  to  insist 
rigorously  that  the  boys  speak  Latin  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  school  work,  except  in  the  lowest  class, 
where  they  do  not  know  Latin. 2  The  corresponding 
rule  in  the  revised  Ratio  reads  as  follows:  '  'The  teacher 
should  take  great  care  that  the  pupils  acquire  practice 
in  speaking  Latin.  For  this  reason  he  should  speak 
Latin  from  the  highest  grammar  class  on,  and  should 
insist  on  the  use  of  Latin,  especially  in  explaining  the 
precepts,  in  correcting  Latin  compositions,  in  the  con- 
certationes  (contests  between  the  boys),  and  in  their 

1  Didaktik  des  Lat.  Unt.,  page  110.  —  See  also  Rollin, 
Traite  des  etudes,  livre  II,  ch.  Ill,  art.  3. 

2  Reg.  mag.  schol.  inf.  18. —  See  Woodstock  Letters,  1894, 
p.  322  foil. 


508  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

conversations. ' '  The  revised  rule  does  not  prescribe 
the  colloquial  use  of  Latin  as  early  as  was  done  in 
former  days.  But  still  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
practice  of  speaking  Latin  must  be  gradually  intro- 
duced, and,  therefore,  the  lower  classes  are  supposed 
also  to  have  Latin  in  use,  although  not  so  extensively. 

Be  it  remarked,  however,  that  the  colloquial  use  of 
Latin  is,  by  no  means,  insisted  on  in  the  Ratio  for  its 
practical  value ;  for  Latin  is  no  longer  the  universal 
language  of  the  educated  world,  as  it  was  some  cen- 
turies ago.  From  time  to  time,  indeed,  we  hear  of 
efforts  being  made  to  restore  Latin  to  its  old  place. 
Thus  in  the  oration  at  the  Leibnitz  celebration  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Berlin,  May  29,  1899, 
the  chief  speaker  advocated  the  introduction  of  Latin 
as  the  international  language  of  learned  men.  How- 
ever, vSUch  efforts  are  too  few,  too  sporadic,  to  influence 
the  wider  circles,  at  least  for  the  near  future.  Nay 
more,  it  seems  almost  certain  that  Latin  will  never 
acquire  that  domineering  influence  which  it  formerly 
exercised.  In  those  days  the  national  languages  and 
literatures  were  not  fully  developed.  But  now  they 
have  attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  and  have 
gained  a  stronghold  on  the  mind  of  the  people.  Be- 
sides, most  of  the  books  of  great  scientific  value  are 
either  written  in  German,  English,  or  French,  or  are 
speedily  translated  into  one  of  these  languages,  and  in 
our  days,  no  one  can  lay  claim  to  scholarship  who 
does  not  master  one  or  other  of  them  besides  his 
mother-tongue.  The  Society  of  Jesus  has  simply,  in 
the  words  of  the  Jesuit  Ebner,  watched  the  trend  of 
events,  and  adapted  herself  and  her  teaching  in  this 
point,  as  in  others,  to  the  new  conditions.1  She  strives 

1    Jesuiten-Gymnasien  in  Oesterreich. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  509 

to  teach  Latin  thoroughly,  and  therefore  urges  the 
colloquial  use  of  Latin  as  a  most  valuable  means  to 
that  end,  although  at  present  not  in  the  same  degree 
as  in  former  centuries  when  facility  in  speaking  Latin 
had,  moreover,  a  directly  practical  purpose. 

The  educational  experiments  of  Germany  during 
the  last  ten  years  afford  an  interesting  illustration  of 
what  has  been  said  in  this  chapter.  It  is  known  that, 
after  the  Berlin  Conference  of  1890,  Latin  lost  fifteen 
hours  a  week  in  the  nine  classes  of  the  gymnasium. 
The  Latin  compositions  particularly  were  reduced 
considerably,  almost  completely  abolished.  What  was 
the  result?  Very  soon  complaints  were  heard  from 
all  sides  that  in  consequence  of  these  changes  the 
teaching  of  Latin  had  been  greatly  injured.1  It  be- 
came evident  that  more  extensive  writing  of  Latin  was 
necessary  to  obtain  the  linguistic  and  logical  training 
of  the  mind,  which  is  one  of  the  foremost  objects  of 
Latin  instruction.  Only  these  exercises,  the  practical 
application  of  the  rules  of  etymology  and  syntax,  the 
careful  examination  of  the  peculiarities  of  style  in  the 
higher  classes,  and  constant  comparison  with  the 
mother-tongue,  by  means  of  translations  and  re-trans- 
lations, give  a  thorough  knowledge  and  insight  into 
the  language. 2 

These  are  the  principles  on  which  the  Ratio  and 
Jouvancy  had  insisted  centuries  ago,  and  which  were 
emphasized  by  tke  General  of  the  Society  in  1893,  at 
the  very  time  when  the  German  schools  saw  fit  to 

1  See  Verhandlungen,  1901,  pp.  282  foil. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  286:  "Vielfache  Uebungen  bin  und  her,  die  ein 
stetes  Umdenken  der  Vorlagen  erfordern,   sollen   sein    (the 
pupil's)  Wissen  gelaufig,  sein  Konneu  gewandt  machen  und 
ihn    allniahlich  zu  eiuem  sicheren  Sprachgefiihl  verhelfen." 


5 1 0  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

abandon  them.  But  experience  soon  forced  the  Ger- 
man authorities  to  revert  to  what  had  been  thrown 
overboard.  In  1895  permission  was  granted  to  add 
one  hour  weekly  in  the  higher  classes,  which  was  to 
be  devoted  to  practice  in  writing  and  to  the  application 
and  repetition  of  rules  of  grammar  and  style.  For,  as 
Professor  Fries  declared,1  the  curtailing  of  these  exer- 
cises had  proved  to  be  the  weakest  point  of  the  changes 
made  after  1890.  In  the  second  conference,  in  1900, 
the  opinion  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  was 
most  positive  in  demanding  a  further  strengthening  of 
these  exercises.2  It  was  proposed3  that  a  L,atin  com- 
position should  again  be  required  for  the  last  examina- 
tion. Nay  more,  Dr.  Kiibler  advocated  —  one  would 
have  thought  it  impossible  after  the  vehement  denun- 
ciations of  this  exercise  —  the  practice  of  speaking 
L,atin.  "It  has  been  exceedingly  gratifying  to  me," 
he  said,  "to  learn  that  the  Ministry  of  Instruction 
will  grant  greater  liberty  for  these  exercises,  especially 
that  the  speaking  of  L,atin  shall  no  longer  be  proscribed 
as  heretofore. ' ' 4  Before  him  the  commissary  of  the 
Government,  Dr.  Matthias,  had  declared  that  besides 
more  frequent  translations  into  L,atin,  more  time  and 
attention  should  be  devoted  to  the  practice  of  speaking 
L,atin,  a  practice  which  in  the  Goethe-Gymnasium  in 
Frankfurt  (Reform-School)  was  carried  on  with  most 
gratifying  results. 5 

1  Verhandlungeny  1901,  p.  288. 

2  Verhandlungen,  pp.  21,  129,  139. 

3  By  Director  Kiibler  and  Prof.  Harnack,  ibid.y  pp.  140 
and  294.     The  latter  declares  Latin  compositions  to  be  ab- 
solutely   necessary    for    a    satisfactory    instruction    in    this 
language. 

4  /£.,  p.139.  5    /£.,  p.  129. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  511 

In  this  reaction  we  may  justly  find  a  vindication 
of  the  principle  maintained  all  along  by  the  Society, 
in  spite  of  the  censures  of  some  modern  reformers. 

§  4.     Contests. 

Among  the  various  school  exercises  mentioned 
by  the  Ratio  Studiorum,  we  find  the  so-called  concerta- 
tioneSj  or  contests  between  boys  of  the  same  or  of 
different  classes  on  matter  that  has  been  studied 
previously.  These  contests  have  the  same  end  in  the 
lower  classes  as  the  disputations  in  the  higher :  accus- 
toming the  boys  to  speak  on  the  subject  matter  of  the 
class,  giving  them  readiness  of  reply  in  answering 
questions,  in  a  word,  making  them  masters  of  their 
subjects.  Ribadeneira  speaks  of  them  as  follows : 
"Many  means  are  devised,  and  exercises  employed, 
to  stimulate  the  minds  of  the  young,  assiduous  dis- 
putation, various  trials  of  genius,  prizes  offered  for 
excellence  in  talent  and  industry.  As  penalty  and 
disgrace  bridle  the  will  and  check  it  from  pursuing 
evil,  so  honor  and  praise  quicken  the  sense  wonder- 
fully to  attain  the  dignity  and  glory  of  virtue. ' ' l 

All  opponents  of  the  Jesuits  try  to  make  a  capital 
point  of  "emulation"  as  recommended  by  the  Ratio.2 
This  "fostering  of  ambition"  was  styled  "the  charac- 
teristic of  the  corrupt  Jesuitical  morality. ' '  We  may 
first  ask  :  are  the  Jesuits  the  only  educators  that  used 
this  means?  Professor  Paulsen  answers  our  question 

1  Hughes,  Loyola ,  p.  90. 

2  See  v.  g.  Compayr^,  p.  146.  —  Seeley,  p.  186.  —  Painter, 
p.  171-172,  where  the  Jesuit  system  is  stigmatized  as  "stimu- 
lating baser  feelings,"    "appealing  to  low  motives,"  etc. — 
In  France  the  Jesuits  were  attacked  on  this  point  also  by  M. 
Michel  Bre"al,  in  his  Quelques  mots  snr  V  instruction  publique. 


512  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

most  appositely :  <(The  Jesuits  know  better,  perhaps, 
than  others  how  to  use  declamations,  contests,  pre- 
miums, etc. ,  effectively.  Protestant  educators  are  wont 
to  express  their  indignation,  and  to  inveigh  against 
the  Jesuits,  for  having  made  emulation  the  moving 
power  in  learning.  The  practice  of  Protestant  schools 
never  shared  the  disgust  of  these  theorizers  at  the 
use  of  emulation,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  this 
practice  should  be  censured.  It  is  true  that  the  good 
emulation  is  closely  related  to  the  bad,  but  without 
the  former  there  has  never  been  a  good  school. ' ' l 

That  these  exercises  were  by  no  means  intended  to 
develop  the  bad  emulation,  or  false  self-love  in  the 
young,  is  evident ;  this  would  have  been  little  to  the 
purpose  with  religious  teachers.  '  'I,et  them  root  out 
from  themselves,  in  every  possible  way,  self-love  and 
the  craving  for  vain  glory,"  says  the  oldest  code  of 
school  rules  in  the  Society,  probably  from  the  pen  of 
Father  Peter  Canisius. 2  What  is  appealed  to,  is  the 
spirit  of  good  and  noble  emulation,  —  honesta  aemu- 
latiOj  as  the  Ratio  says,  —  and  that  by  a  world  of 
industry  which  spurs  young  students  on  to  excellence 
in  whatever  they  undertake,  and  rewards  the  develop- 
ment of  natural  energies  with  the  natural  luxury  of 
confessedly  doing  well.  This  makes  the  boys  feel 
happy  in  having  done  well,  however  little  they  enjoyed 
the  labor  before,  and  will  rouse  them  to  new  exertions. 
Gradually  they  may  then  be  led  to  have  higher  mo- 
tives in  their  endeavors.  Does  not  the  Divine  teacher 
of  mankind  act  similarly?  He  demands  great  sacri- 

1  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  p.  286.  (First 
edition ;  the  passage  has  been  somewhat  changed  in  the 
second  edition,  I,  p.  430.) 

-    Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  90. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  513 

fices  and  arduous  exertions  of  man  :  purity,  humility, 
meekness,  patience,  self-denial,  but  he  always  points 
also  to  the  reward,  "theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven/' 
"your  reward  in  heaven  is  exceedingly  great."  God 
promises  also  earthly  blessings  to  those  that  observe 
his  commandments :  ' '  Honor  thy  father  and  thy 
mother,  that  thou  mayest  be  long  lived  upon  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  will  give  thee. "  Why,  then, 
should  it  be  unlawful  and  immoral  to  employ  rewards 
in  the  education  of  the  young,  who  are  not  yet  able  to 
grasp  the  highest  motives  of  well-doing?  Or  is  it 
probable  that  young  pupils  will  readily  be  diligent, 
when  told  that  they  ought  to  do  their  work  ?  Kant's 
teaching  of  the  autonomy  of  human  reason  is  not  only 
deficient,  but  positively  erroneous1;  but  least  of  all 
will  the  rule,  you  ought  because  reason  tells  you  so,  have 
any  effect  on  the  young.  On  this  point  also  Professor 
Kemp,  in  his  otherwise  fair  treatment  of  Jesuit  edu- 
cation, has  been  led  into  an  error,  when  he  states  that 
"emulation  was  carried  to  such  extremes  that,  appar- 
ently, it  must  have  obscured  the  true  ends  of  study 
and  cultivated  improper  feeling  among  the  students. "  2 
Such  a  priori  conclusions  are  very  dangerous;  and  the 
"must  have"  is  frequently  only  "apparent."  Kant, 
indeed,  said:  "The  child  must  be  taught  to  act  from  a 
pure  sense  of  duty,  not  from  inclination."  Still,  in 
another  place  he  declares  that  "it  is  lost  labor  to 
speak  to  a  child  of  duty."  Children  must  be  treated, 
as  St.  Paul  says:  "as  little  ones  in  Christ,  to  whom  I 
gave  milk  to  drink,  not  meat;  for  you  were  not  able 
as  yet."3  This  milk,  in  education,  is  some  sort  of 

1  See  Rickaby,  S.  J.,  Moral  Philosophy,  pp.  115—118. 

2  History  of  Education,  p.  191. 

3  1  Cor.  3,  1-2. 


514  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

reward,  a  means  not  at  all  immoral.  For  the  desire 
of  honor  is  inborn  in  man  and  lawful  as  long  as  it 
does  not  become  inordinate.1  Honest  emulation  is 
therefore  lawful;  it  is  also  productive  of  great  deeds. 
"In  all  the  pursuits  of  active  and  speculative  life,  the 
emulation  of  states  and  individuals  is  the  most  power- 
ful spring  of  the  efforts  and  improvements  of  man- 
kind. "  (Gibbon.) 

In  speaking  of  reward  we  do  not  mean  necessarily 
prizes  or  premiums.  These  are  indeed  more  open  to 
objections.  The  jealousy  of  pupils  is  more  easily 
aroused  and  sometimes  even  the  dissatisfaction  of 
parents.  However,  this  can  not  justify  the  general 
condemnation  of  prizes.  There  is  hardly  an  appoint- 
ment made  to  any  position  of  honor  in  a  city  or  state, 
but  a  few  disappointed  individuals  will  feel  and  ex- 
press their  disapproval,  no  matter  how  just  and  fair 
the  promotion  has  been.  Should  the  appointment  for 
such  adverse  criticism  be  omitted  ?  Further,  premiums 
for  excellence  in  learning,  in  military  valor,  in  politi- 
cal ability  are  as  old  as  history.  The  Greeks  rewarded 
the  conqueror  in  their  national  games  with  a  wreath; 
the  Romans  had  various  crowns  for  citizens  who  in 
different  ways  had  deserved  well  of  their  country. 
And  now-a-days  no  one  objects  if  a  victorious  general 
or  admiral  is  offered  a  token  of  public  recognition,  in 
the  form  of  a  precious  sword,  or  even  a  more  useful 
object.  The  soldiers  of  our  generation  are  justly 
proud  if  their  bravery  is  rewarded  by  a  badge,  and 
even  the  scholars  of  modern  Europe,  perhaps  such  as 
strongly  denounce  the  corrupting  influence  of  premi- 

1  See  Thomas  Aquinas,  Summa  Theologiaey  2,  2,  qu.  131 
and  132:  "On  Ambition  and  Vain  Glory." 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  515 

urns  in  Jesuit  schools,  do  not  hesitate  to  accept  a 
decoration,  or  the  title  of  nobility  in  recognition  of 
their  labors  for  the  advance  of  science.  Why,  then, 
should  this  principle  of  rewarding  success  be  so  rigor- 
ously excluded  from  the  schools?  No,  it  is  at  least 
exceedingly  difficult  to  prove  that  prizes  have  gener- 
ally evil  results,  provided  all  injustice  and  even  all 
suspicion  of  unfairness  in  the  distribution  is  avoided. 
However,  when  speaking  of  reward  we  mean  in 
general  some  public  recognition,  be  it  a  word  of  praise 
or  something  else.1 

Emulation  may  be  fostered  in  various  ways.  The 
Ratio  gives  one  in  the  contests.  Each  pupil  may 
have  his  aemulus  or  rival.  The  professor  questions 
A,  while  B,  the  aemulus  of  A.,  is  on  the  alert  to 
correct  his  rival.  Or  the  boys  question  each  other 
mutually,  while  the  professor  merely  presides  to  see 
that  all  goes  on  fairly.  The  whole  class  may  be 
divided  into  two  sides,  which  are  frequently  called 
camps  or  armies,  as  boys  naturally  delight  in  any- 
thing military.  Boys  of  the  one  camp,  let  us  say  the 
" Carthaginians,"  question  some  of  the  rival  camps  of 
the  "Romans,"  and  vice  versa.  The  leaders  of  the 
two  sides  keep  the  record  of  the  points  gained,  of  the 
corrections  made  by  their  respective  side.  The  leaders 
ought  to  be  pupils  distinguished  by  talent,  industry 
and  good  character.  Different  classes  may  also  chal- 
lenge each  other  for  an  extraordinary  and  more  solemn 
contest,  to  which  other  classes  may  be  invited  as 
witnesses. 

1  The  rewarding  of  prizes  is  ably  vindicated  by  Father 
R.  de  Scoraille,  S.  J.,  in  the  Etudes  religieuses,  Paris,  August 
and  September  1879.  "Les  distributions  de  prix  dans  les 
colleges. " 


516  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

It  is  not  easy  to  make  such  contests  successful, 
and  it  may  require  great  skill  'and  experience  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher;  and  if  he  lacks  this  skill  —  he 
may  be  a  very  good  teacher  in  other  respects  —  it  is 
better  to  find  some  other  means  of  encouraging  fair  and 
successful  emulation.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
this  emulation,  in  the  words  of  Fathers  Hughes  and 
Duhr,  is  only  one  of  the  "subordinate  elements  in  the 
Jesuit  method,"  :  or  "only  a  trifling  detail,"  as  Father 
de  Scoraille  says,  not  the  predominant  element  as  its 
adversaries  represent  it.  In  general,  these  contests 
work  better  in  the  lower  classes;  especially  in  Northern 
countries,  they  will  not  be  found  as  suitable  for  higher 
classes.  Much  of  the  pomp  and  the  ceremonies  which 
are  mentioned  in  the  Ratio  and  by  Jouvancy,  do  not 
suit  modern  taste  and  have  long  ago  been  discarded  in 
Jesuit  colleges.  But  these  were  accidental  details;  the 
fundamental  principle  is  sound.  Father  Duhr  well 
observes:  "The  literary  contests  of  the  pupils  brought 
life  and  action  into  the  schools  of  olden  times.  We 
have  become  colder  in  such  things,  whether  to  the 
benefit  of  lively  youths  is  another  question. ' ' 2 

We  quoted  above  the  statement  of  Professor  Paul- 
sen  to  the  effect  that  the  practice  of  Protestant  schools 
in  regard  to  emulation  is  by  no  means  what  should  be 
expected  from  their  severe  censures  of  this  point  in 
the  Jesuit  system.  In  fact  Mr.  Quick,  writing  about 
competitions  and  "class  matches,"  says:  "With  young 
classes  I  have  tried  the  Jesuits'  plan  of  class  matches 
and  have  found  it  answer  exceedingly  well. "  3  In  the 

1  Hughes,  p.  89.  —  Duhr,  p.  61. 

2  Studienordnung >  p.  125. 

3  Educational   Reformers    (I/ondon    edition    of    1868), 
p.  297. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  517 

revised  edition  of  1890  the  same  author  declares,  in 
general,  that  there  are  many  forms  of  emulation  which 
he  did  not  set  his  face  against.1  And  not  long  ago,  in 
1901,  Dr.  Beecher  of  Dresden  recommended  for  the 
lower  classes  of  the  gymnasium  contests  among  the 
pupils,  which  resemble  very  much  the  concertationes 
of  the  Ratio.  He  calls  them  '  'dainties  of  a  harmless 
character  which  make  the  boys  relish  better  the  dry 
forms  of  Latin  grammar."  2  Still  more  remarkable  is 
the  fact  that  in  the  Berlin  Conference,  June  1900,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  that  assembly, 
Professor  Munch,  pleaded  for  introducing  a  system 
which  is  not  much  different  from  the  Jesuit  system  of 
the  aemuli.  He  says:  ''It  must  come  to  it  in  our 
schools  that  not  only  the  teacher  asks  the  pupils  but 
also  that  the  pupils  question  one  another. ' ' 3 

Other  exercises  intended  to  rouse  the  activity  of 
the  pupils  are  oratorical  contests  and  other  public  ex- 
hibitions.4 The  rules  for  the  teachers  prescribe  that 
the  original  productions  of  the  pupils  must  be  care- 
fully corrected  and  polished  by  the  teacher,  but  the 
latter  should  not  write  them  in  their  entirety.5  A 
skilful  teacher  can  do  much  in  stimulating  interest  in 
such  entertainments,  if  he  proposes  an  interesting 
subject  and  knows  how  to  use  the  literary  and  histor- 

1  On  pp.  529—532.     There  he  also  states  that  the  New 
England  Journal  of  Education  gives  an  account  of  some  inter- 
class  matches  at  Milwaukee,  and  the  New  York  School  Jour- 
nal of  contests   in   the    McDonough    School   No.    12,    New 
Orleans. 

2  Neue  Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VIII,  p.  98. 

3  Verhandlungen,  p.  135. 

4  See  especially  Father  Kropf,  Ratio  et  Via,  chapter  V, 
art.  II.     (German  edition  p.  426  f.). 

5  Reg.  com.  32. 


51 8  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

ical  material  treated  in  the  class.  The  best  entertain- 
ments will  be  those  that  treat  one  subject  under 
various  aspects. 

In  the  philosophical  course  the  contests  consist  in 
the  disputations.  The  disputations  of  the  students  of 
philosophy  in  most  Jesuit  colleges  are  conducted  in 
the  same  fashion  as  those  described  in  a  previous 
chapter.1 

In  the  last  place  we  must  mention  an  exercise 
which  has  been  styled  a  ' 'better  kind  of  rivalry,"2 
namely  the  so-called  academies.  These  are  voluntary 
associations  of  the  students,  literary  societies  in  the 
middle  classes,  and  scientific  societies  in  Philosophy. 
In  Philosophy,  according  to  the  rules  for  the  academy, 
essays  are  read  by  the  students  on  some  scientific 
topic,  preferably  on  subjects  which  are  in  some  way 
connected  with  the  matter  studied  in  class,  but  which 
could  not  be  treated  there  at  length.  At  times  these 
subjects  may  be  given  in  the  form  of  free  lectures. 
After  the  essay  has  been  read  all  the  members  of  the 
academy  are  free  to  enter  on  a  discussion  and  attack 
the  assertion  of  the  essayist.3  It  is  clear  that  academies 
conducted  in  this  manner  afford  the  greatest  advan- 
tages. In  the  essayist,  the  spirit  of  research  is  stim- 
ulated, and  in  all  those  who  take  part  in  the  discus- 
sion, in  fact,  in  all  those  present,  scientific  criticism 
is  developed. 

The  subjects  treated  in  the  academy  of  the  pupils 
of  Rhetoric  and  Humanities  are,  naturally,  of  a  literary 
character:  criticism  of  rhetorical  and  poetical  topics 

1  See  above  pp.  422—425. 

2  Quick,  Educ.  Ref.t  p.  42. 

3  Reg.  A  cad.  Theolog.  et  Philos.,  3. 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  519 

not  treated  fully  in  class,1  which  may  be  illustrated 
from  various  authors ;  a  literary  and  critical  apprecia- 
tion of  a  striking  passage  from  an  author;  the  reading 
of  an  essay  or  poem  composed  by  the  pupil  himself;  a 
^discussion  of  a  disputed  question  of  literature,  and 
other  interesting  and  useful  subjects,  which  are  recom- 
mended by  the  rules  of  this  academy.2  An  academy 
is  to  be  held  every  week  in  Philosophy,  and  every 
week  or  every  fortnight  in  Rhetoric  and  Humanities. 
Even  the  Grammar  classes  are  to  have  their  acade- 
mies, in  which  similar  discussions  are  carried  on,  of 
course  less  scientific  than  in  the  higher  classes.  At 
any  rate,  these  academies  are  excellently  fitted  to 
stimulate  the  activity  of  the  pupils. 

In  one  Jesuit  college  in  the  United  States  the 
essays  prepared  in  the  middle  classes,  sometimes 
treated  of  archaeological  subjects  which  had  been 
alluded  to  in  the  course  of  the  reading  of  the  classics. 
This  seems  quite  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  rules 
for  the  academy.  The  pupils  took  a  great  interest  in 
such  subjects  and  undoubtedly  derived  great  profit 
from  them. 

When  the  pupil  read  his  essay,  not  unfrequently 
drawings  on  the  blackboard,  maps  and  pictures  served 
to  illustrate  the  lecture.  Then  followed  a  short  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  and  further  queries  of  the  boys, 
which  were  answered  by  the  teacher.  The  following 
subjects  were  treated  in  this  manner :  The  Roman 
Coliseum,  Roman  military  roads,  Roman  aqueducts, 
a  Roman  triumph,  the  Romans'  daily  life,  the  Roman 

1  Aliquid  de  praeceptis  magis  reconditis  rhetoricae  vel 
poesis,  as  the  2d  rule  has  it. 

2  Reg.  Acad.  Rhet.  et  Hum.  2. 


520  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

family,  Roman  agriculture,  the  number  and  rank  of 
early  Christians,   character   of   Greeks   and   Romans 
compared,  Greek  sculpture,  pagan  and  Christian  art, 
—  this  last  essay  was  read   in  connection  with   the 
study  of  Cicero's  fourth  oration  against  Verres,   "On 
the  Statues,"  in  which  many  Greek  masterpieces  of 
art   are   described   or   mentioned.  —  Similar   subjects 
are:  The  Roman  (or  Greek)  house,  Roman  (or  Greek) 
temples,     feasts,     costumes,     weapons,     magistrates, 
games,  theatres,  slavery,  education,  navy,  travels  etc. 
It  may  be  easily  understood  that  much  is  requisite  to 
conduct  such  "Academies"  successfully,  above  all  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher.     For  he  must  discuss  the  sub- 
ject with  the  young  writer,   suggest  reliable  sources 
from  which  to  draw  material,  direct  the  writer  in  his 
work,    and  lastly  revise  and  correct  the  essay.     But 
the  work  will  be  amply  compensated  by  the  result, 
especially  by  the  increased  interest  with  which  the 
pupils  study  the  classics. 

Such,  then,  are  the  exercises  of  the  Ratio.  They 
are  distinguished  for  variety:  a  short  recitation  of  the 
memory  lesson  is  followed  by  the  thorough  repetition 
of  the  prelection  of  the  previous  day,  or  of  the  precepts 
of  rhetoric,  poetry,  and  grammar.  Then  comes  the 
principal  work  of  the  day,  the  prelection  of  the  new 
passage  of  the  author,  followed  by  a  brief  repetition. 
Some  time  is  devoted  every  day  to  the  writing  of  a 
little  theme;  and  lastly  the  contests  rouse  the  pupils  to 
new  attention,  in  case  the  other  exercises  should  have 
caused  some  drowsiness.  Certainly  this  change  and 
variety  of  the  exercises  is  calculated  to  break  the 
monotony  which,  especially  with  younger  pupils,  is 
apt  to  give  rise  to  weariness  and  disgust.  At  the 


METHOD  OF  TEACHING  IN  PRACTICE.  521 

same  time,  the  exercises  are  of  such  a  character  that 
they  call  into  play  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind: 
memory,  imagination,  reasoning.  Thus  they  are 
excellent  means  for  attaining  the  end  of  education, 
namely  the  thorough  and  harmonious  training  of  the 
mind. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Moral  Scope. 

The  object  of  education  is  the  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  man.  So  far  we  have  spoken  of  the 
development  of  the  intellect.  Yet  the  will  needs 
training  even  more  than  the  intellect,  and  the  higher 
schools  ought  not  to  neglect  this  most  important  part 
of  the  work  of  education.  It  cannot  be  gainsaid  that 
the  emphasis  laid  upon  moral  training  forms  the  most 
marked  distinction  between  the  true  educator  and  the 
mere  instructor,  of  whatever  creed  he  may  be.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  one  of  the  most  disquieting  features  of 
our  age  that  so  many  teachers  in  the  higher  schools 
have  lost  sight  of  this  fundamental  principle  of  educa- 
tion. "I  hold/'  writes  Dr.  McCosh,  "that  in  every 
college  the  faculty  should  look  after,  not  only  the 
intellectual  improvement,  but  also  the  morals  of  those 
committed  to  their  care  by  parents  and  guardians.  I 
am  afraid  that .  both  in  Europe  and  America  all  idea 
of  looking  after  the  character  of  the  students  has  been 
given  up  by  many  of  our  younger  professors. ' ' 

The  inevitable  consequence  of  this  method  must 
be  a  decline  of  morality  among  the  rising  generation, 
or  to  put  it  more  mildly,  and  to  use  the  expression  of 
some  writers,  a  lamentable  disproportion  between  the 
intellectual  and  moral  progress.  The  existence  of  this 
disproportion  is  attested  to  by  men  who  have  hitherto 

1     Life  of  James  McCosh,  p.  224, 
(522) 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPE.  523 

been  rather  optimistic  about  the  educational  con- 
ditions of  this  country.  Thus  President  Eliot  has 
quite  recently  expressed  himself  very  frankly  on  the 
"failure  of  our  popular  education."  In  spite  of  the 
greatest  efforts  of  various  agencies  towards  checking 
vice  in  every  shape,  he  sees  small  results.  His  prac- 
tical conclusion  is  that  "we  ought  to  spend  more 
money  on  schools,  because  the  present  expenditures 
do  not  produce  all  the  good  results  which  were  ex- 
pected and  may  be  reasonably  aimed  at."  l  Still,  it  is 
more  than  doubtful  whether  an  increased  expenditure 
is  the  needed  remedy;  it  is  not  lack  of  money,  but 
lack  of  the  true  method  of  education,  which  is  at  the 
root  of  the  failure  of  education.  This  has  been  cor- 
rectly observed  in  several  comments  on  President 
Eliot's  indictment.  The  defects  of  our  people,  says 
the  Chicago  Chronicle,  lie  "in  morals  rather  than  in 
intelligence,"  And  the  Columbia  State  remarks:  "It 
will  at  least  be  difficult  to  point  at  any  fatal  exaggera- 
tion in  this  arraignment.  But  is  it  fair  to  charge  all 
of  it  up  to  education?  Would  it  not  be  better  for 
Harvard's  President  to  revise  his  views  as  to  the 
power  of  education?  ^earning  of  itself,  the  mere 
accumulation  of  knowledge,  can  not  make  morally 
better  an  individual  or  a  society.  It  is  unfair  to 
expect  so  much.  Education  of  the  mind  may  be  a 
help,  since  it  does  fit  the  individual  to  understand,  to 
distinguish  right  from  wrong  and  to  apprehend  the 
consequences  of  evil.  But  education  ought  never  to 
have  been  regarded  as  an  insurance  against  immoral- 
ity, a  preventive  of  crime,  a  cure  for  cupidity,  or  a 
guaranty  that  the  Golden  Rule  will  be  observed.  The 

1     The  Literary  Digest,  November  22,  1902,  p.  669. 


524  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

education  that  brings  this  about  must  be  more  than  a 
mere  mental  training;  it  must  be  moral  and  spiritual." 
These  comments  touch  the  sore  spot  in  modern  edu- 
cation. The  capital  error  of  most  school  reformers  lies 
in  this  that  they  expect  too  much  from  intellectual 
accomplishments  for  the  moral  and  social  improve- 
ment of  mankind.  Every  second  word  of  theirs  is: 
culture,  knowledge,  science,  information;  and  yet, 
what  is  far  more  needed  is  a  reform  of  character  by 
training  the  will.1  The  plausible  assertion :  "In- 
struction is  moral  improvement,"  a  principle  which  is 
repeated  in  many  variations,  is  false.  The  neglect  of 
the  religious  and  moral  training  is  the  result  of  a  false 
philosophy;  for,  there  exists  the  closest  connection 
between  philosophy  and  pedagogy,  so  much  so  that  a 
false  philosophy  necessarily  leads  to  a  false  pedagogy, 
and  that  a  false  pedagogy  is  always  the  outcome  of  a 
false  philosophy.2  Pedagogy,  according  to  the  very 
derivation  of  the  word,  means  "the  guiding  of  chil- 
dren;" in  order  to  guide  them  properly  it  is  necessary 
to  know  clearly  the  end  and  goal  which  is  to  be 
reached.  The  end  of  man  can  be  known  only  from 
his  true  nature,  and  this  knowledge  is  supplied  by 
philosophy.  Philosophy,  then,  which  is  to  be  the 
foundation  of  sound  pedagogy  must  correctly  answer 
the  important  questions:  Whence  and  Whither ?  If  as 
the  foundation  of  education  a  philosophy  is  chosen 
which  gives  a  wrong  answer  to  these  momentous 

1  See  the  splendid  lecture  of  Bishop  Keppler:  "Reform, 
True  and  False,"  (translated  by  the  Rev.  B.  Guldner,  S.  J., 
in  The  Catholic  Mind,  No.  1,  January  1903,  pp.  IB— 14). 

2  On  the  "Relation  of  Philosophy  to  Pedagogy"  see  five 
articles  by  Father  Christian  Pesch,  S.  J.,  in  the  Stimmen  aus 
Maria- Loach t  volumes  XIV  and  XV. 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPK.  525 

questions,  the  children  will  be  led  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion. Now,  that  philosophy  which  considers  man 
merely  a  highly  developed  animal,  which  sees  in  the 
human  mind  nothing  but  another  "aspect"  or  "phase" 
of  the  body  (Bain,  Spencer,  and  others),  and  con- 
sequently denies  the  spirituality  and  immortality  of 
the  soul  —  such  a  philosophy  (if  it  deserves  this 
name)  cannot  assign  any  other  end  and  object  of 
man's  life  than  some  form  of  hedonism  or  utilitarian- 
ism. Unfortunately  this  philosophy  has  exerted  a 
disastrous  influence  on  many  modern  educational 
theories.  It  has  led  to  the  separation,  more  or  less 
complete,  of  education  from  religion,  and  as  we  shall 
show  hereafter,  a  solid  moral  training  is  impossible 
without  religion.  There  is  only  one  system  of 
philosophy  which  can  form  the  sound  basis  of  true 
pedagogy,  and  that  is  Christian  philosophy,  that 
philosophy  which  is  in  harmony  with  the  revealed 
truths  of  Christianity.  This  philosophy  alone  gives 
the  correct  answer  to  the  all-important  Whence  and 
Whither?  It  tells  us  that  the  soul  of  the  child  is  a 
spirit,  created  by  a  personal  God  to  His  own  image 
and  likeness,  and  destined  for  an  eternal  happiness  in 
heaven;  it  tells  us  that  this  life  is  not  the  final  stage 
of  man,  but  a  journey  to  another,  higher  life;  that 
"we  have  not  here  a  lasting  city,  but  seek  one  that  is 
to  come. "  l  A  system  of  education  based  on  this 
Christian  philosophy  will  widely  differ  from  those 
systems  which  are  built  up  on  "modern"  philosophy, 
be  it  German  pantheism,  French  positivism,  or  Eng- 
lish and  American  agnosticism.  The  most  essential 
difference  will  be  this  that  in  a  Christian  system  the 

1    Hebr.  13,  14. 


526  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

intellectual  training  is  considered  secondary  aijd  sub- 
ordinate to  the  moral  and  religious  training,  whereas 
all  other  systems  aim  at  a  purely  secular  education, 
and  in  this  again  lay  special  stress  on  the  intellectual, 
to  the  neglect  of  the  moral  training. 

It  has  frequently  been  observed  that  the  spirit  of 
our  age  manifests  many  pagan  tendencies.  The 
utilitarian  trend  of  modern  education  is  undoubtedly 
a  sort  of  neo-paganism.  To  the  artistic  mind  of  the 
Greek  the  "Beautiful"  (/aAw)  and  the  "Good" 
(dya0ov)  were  terms  almost  synonymous.  Greek  edu- 
cation, accordingly,  aimed  at  the  harmonious  develop- 
ment of  body  and  intellect  for  this  life.  In  the  eyes 
of  the  Roman,  the  Eternal  City  was  destined  to  con- 
quer and  rule  the  whole  world.  To  make  useful  and 
devoted  members  of  that  mighty  political  fabric  was 
the  sole  aim  of  the  education  imparted  to  Roman 
youths.  But  the  aim  of  Christian  education  must  be 
far  different.  Christ's  life  and  teaching  cannot  be 
ignored  and  disregarded.  His  "seek  ye  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  justice,"1  must  be  the 
foundation  of  all  educational  principles,  "for  what 
doth  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and 
suffer  the  loss  of  his  own  soul?"  2  Therefore,  if  "the 
fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of  all  wisdom,"3  the 
moral  and  religious  training  of  the  young  must  claim 
the  special  attention  and  care  of  the  teacher.  Whereas 
Greek  education  affected  only  the  intellect 
mens),  Christian  education  affects  the  soul, 
spiritus)  as  contrasted  with  the  body,  the  "flesh" 

1  Matthew  6,  33. 

2  Matth,  16,  26. 

3  Ecclesiasticus  1,  16. 


THE  MORAL  SCOPE.  527 

(o-a/o£,  caro).  Pagan  education  aimed  at  mere  for- 
mation (Ausbildung) ,  at  the  evolution  and  develop- 
ment of  the  natural  man;  Christian  education  aims  at 
transformation  (  Umbildung),  at  change,  at  elevation.1 
Every  one,  free  or  slave,  rich  or  poor,  white  or  black, 
is  a  child  of  God  and  destined  to  be  an  heir  of  heaven.' 
Therefore,  he  is  to  seek  first  heavenly  things:  i ' Quae  sur- 
sum  sunt  quaerite,  quae  sursum  sunt  sapite,  non  quae  super 
terrain."  2  He  must  "put  off  the  old  man  who  is  cor- 
rupted, and  put  on  the  new  man  who,  according  to 
God,  is  created  in  justice  and  holiness  of  truth."  3  He 
must  listen  to  Christ's  commendation  of  humility, 
meekness  and  purity,  and  follow  His  stern  command: 
"Abnega  temetipsum,  tolle  crucem  et  sequere  me:  Deny 
thyself,  -take  up  thy  cross  and  follow  me."  4  But  this 
is  not  in  accord  with  the  natural  inclinations  of  man; 
therefore,  transformation  is  needed.  The  work  of 
transformation  must  begin  from  the  awakening  of 
reason  and  must  be  the  principal  object  in  all  educa- 
tion. For,  as  the  Following  of  Christ  has  it,  "when 
Christ  our  Master,  comes  for  the  final  examination, 
he  will  not  ask  how  well  we  spoke  and  disputed,  but 
how  well  we  lived,  non  quid  legimus,  sed  quid  fecimus, 
non  quam  bene  diximus,  sed  quam  religiose  viximus."  5 

In  the  "school  of  the  heart"  at  Manresa,  Ignatius 
had  thoroughly  grasped  these  sublime  lessons.  He 
had  carried  them  out  in  his  own  life  and  made  them 
the  guiding  principles  of  his  Society.  In  his  Spiritual 
Exercises,  Ignatius  has  laid  down  a  brief,  but  most 

1  Willmann,  Didaktik,  vol.  I,  ch.  V. 

2  Col.  3,  1,  2. 

3  Ephes.  4,  22,  24. 

4  Matth.  16,  24. 

5  Book  I,  ch.  Ill,  5. 


528  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

comprehensive  epitome  of  Christian  philosophy.  There 
he  has  expressed  the  whole  purpose  of  man's  life  in 
these  few  lines:  "Man  is  created  to  praise,  reverence 
and  serve  God,  and  thus  to  save  his  own  soul.  All 
other  things  are  created  for  the  sake  of  man,  and  to 
aid  him  in  the  attainment  of  his  end;  therefore  he 
should  use  them  only  with  this  object,  and  withdraw 
himself  from  them,  when  they  would  lead  him  from 
it."  Apply  this  principle  to  learning,  to  knowledge, 
and  you  must  admit  that  these  are  not  man's  ultimate 
end,  they  are  only  means  to  that  end.  Throughout 
the  educational  system  of  the  Society,  we  find  the 
application  of  these  truths.  Thus  the  Fourth  Part  of 
the  Constitutions  says:  "Since  the  object  at  which 
the  Society  directly  aims,  is  to  aid  its  members  and 
their  fellow-men  to  attain  the  ultimate  end  for  which 
they  were  created,  learning,  a  knowledge  of  the 
methods  of  instruction,  and  living  example  are  neces- 
sary. ' '  In  the  Ratio  Studiorum  the  first  rule  of  the 
Provincial  reads:  "It  is  one  of  the  most  important 
duties  of  the  Society  to  teach  all  the  sciences,  which 
according  to  our  Institute  may  be  taught,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  lead  men  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
our  Creator  and  Redeemer  Jesus  Christ. "  Of  like 
import  are  the  first  rules  of  the  Rector,  the  Prefect  of 
Studies  and  the  professors  of  the  various  grades.  This 
great  care  which  the  Society  has  always  bestowed  on 
the  moral  and  religious  training  of  its  pupils,  is 
probably  the  reason  that  accounts  for  the  popularity 
of  its  schools.  Christian  parents  felt  assured  that  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  their  sons  would  be  most  diligently 
attended  to,  and  so  sent  them  with  the  greatest  con- 
fidence to  Jesuit  colleges.  More  than  once  have 


THE:  MORAI,  SCOPE.  529 

parents  give  expression  to  their  sentiments  on  this 
point.  The  testimony  of  one  American  father,  the 
distinguished  convert  from  Protestantism,  Orestes 
Brownson,  may  be  given  as  an  instance  among  many. 
"We  ourselves  have  four  sons  in  the  colleges  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  in  placing  them  there  we  feel  that  we  are 
discharging  our  duty  as  a  father  to  them,  and  as  a 
citizen  to  this  country.  We  rest  easy,  for  we  feel  they 
are  where  they  will  be  trained  up  in  the  way  they 
should  go;  where  their  faith  and  morals  will'be  cared 
for,  which  with  us  is  a  great  thing.  It  is  more 
especially  for  the  moral  and  religious  training  which 
our  children  will  receive  from  the  good  fathers  that 
we  esteem  these  colleges.  Science,  literature,  the 
most  varied  and  profound  scholastic  attainments,  are 
worse  than  useless,  where  coupled  with  heresy,  in- 
fidelity or  impurity. ' ' l 

However,  the  Society  has  been  blamed  by  some 
for  insisting  too  strongly  upon  moral  and   religious 
training,  and  for  subordinating  to  it  everything  else. 
But  how  can  any  one  who  believes  in  the  existence  of    . 
God  and  an  eternal  life,  find  fault  with  this  principle? 
If  there  is  a  God,  if  man  has  an  immortal  soul,  if  there  TVr^* 
is  an  eternity  of  happiness  awaiting  the  good,  and  an   *£ 
eternity   of   punishment   the   wicked,   then  the  "one 
thing  necessary"  on  earth,  and  to  be  aimed  at  above 
everything  else,  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul.     Hence 
it  is  that  men,  who  in  their  religious  tenets  widely 
differ  from  the  Jesuits,  could  not  help  praising  the 
latter  for  the  attention  they  paid  to  the  moral  and 
religious  education  of  their  pupils.     From  numerous 
testimonies  we  may  be  allowed  to  quote  a  few.     "As 

1    Brownson^ s  Review,  Jan.  1846,  p.  87. 
34 


53°  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

might  be  expected,"  writes  Quick,  "the  Jesuits  were 
to  be  very  careful  of  the  moral  and  religious  training 
of  their  pupils.  .  .  .  Sacchini  writes  in  a  very  high 
tone  on  this  subject.  Perhaps  he  had  read  of  Trotzen- 
dorf's  address  to  a  school."  ]  In  1879  an  anti-clerical 
paper  wrote  about  the  Belgian  higher  schools:  "Could 
not  our  teachers  do  a  little  more  for  discipline?  Could 
they  not  watch  more  diligently  over  the  manners  and 
morals  of  the  students?  How  often  do  we  hear  people 
say:  'What,  I  send  my  son  to  the  Athentesf2  God 
forbid  !  Fine  manners  he  would  learn  there  I'  Now 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  young  should  acquire  worse 
manners  in  the  Athenfas  than  in  the  Jesuit  schools  — 
on  the  contrary.  However,  in  point  of  fact,  only  the 
Jesuits  look  after  education,  whereas  our  Athenees  busy 
themselves  only  about  instruction.  I  know  full  well 
that  the  education  imparted  by  the  clergy  is  bad,  even 
dangerous.  Our  lay  teachers  should  pay  more  atten- 
tion to  education,  as  it  is  exactly  this  training,  however 
detestable,  which  brings  to  the  men  in  the  soutane  the 
patronage  of  so  many  parents."  M.  Cottu,  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  Jesuits,  had  to  acknowledge  the  same. 3 

1  Educational  Reformers  (1890),  page  47.  —  It  is  worth 
noting    that    Sacchini    is    supposed    to   have   learned   from 
Trotzendorf  to  esteem  highly  moral  and  religious  training  — 
by  the  way,  Quick's  edition  of  1868  ascribes  that  address  to 
Melanchthon !  —  Everything  good  in  the  Jesuit  system  must 
be  traced  to  Protestant  sources  I     As  though  Sacchini,  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible  and  the  most  explicit  principles  of  the 
Constitutions  of  his  Order,  had  not  better  sources  than  in  a 
school  address  of  Melanchthon  or  Trotzendorf,  of  which  he 
probably  knew  nothing ! 

2  The  public  higher  schools  of  Belgium. 

3  Journal  de   Gand  and  La  Chronique,  quoted  by  De 
Badts  de  Cugnac,  Les  Jesuites  et  V education,  p.  54. 


THE  MORAI,  SCOP3.  531 

Professor  Kern  of  the  University  of  Gottingen,  a  Prot- 
estant, wrote  years  ago  :  "The  Jesuits  attack  the  evil 
at  its  root :  they  educate  boys  in  the  fear  of  God  and 
in  obedience.  Has  it  ever  been  heard  that  from  Jesuit 
schools  doctrines  come  forth  similar  to  those  of  our 
modern  schools?  History  has  proved  that  irreligious 
and  anarchistic  doctrines  spread  rapidly  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Society.  Faith  and  science  were  no 
longer  united.  Reason  with  all  its  errors,  — and  what 
error  is  so  absurd  that  has  not  had  its  defenders  —  was 
given  the  preference,  faith  was  abandoned,  ridiculed, 
and  spoken  of  only  under  the  name  of  superstition. ' '  l 
By  what  means  do  the  Jesuits  endeavor  to  effect 
the  moral  training  of  their  pupils  ?  We  may  classify 
the  means  they  employ  under  four  heads:  the  example 
of  a  virtuous  life,  reasonable  supervision,  ethical  in- 
struction, and  certain  means  provided  by  the  Church, 
especially  the  sacraments.  As  to  the  first  we  all 
know  that  example  is  much  more  powerful  than  words, 
particularly  so  with  the  young.  There  is  a  great 
truth  in  the  old  L,atin  adage :  Verba  movent,  exempla 
trahunt.  Every  teacher,  therefore,  should  lead  such 
a  life  as  to  be  able  to  say  with  the  great  teacher  of  the 
Gentiles:  "Be  ye  followers  of  me  as  I  also  am  of 
Christ. ' ' 2  Above  all  ought  this  to  be  the  case  with 
teachers  who  make  a  profession  of  religion.  The  life 
of  a  religious  is  one  of  continual  self-denial.  St. 
Ignatius  seems  to  have  thought  that  daily  contact  with 
men  of  this  stamp  would  be  good  for  boys.  He  seems 
to  have  thought  that  in  course  of  time  they  would 
assimilate  some  of  that  spirit  of  conscientious  devotion 

1  Quoted  by  ~BfcnzrtJesuiten-Gymnasien. 

2  1.  Cor.  11,  1. 


53 2  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

to  duty,  of  generous  readiness  to  go  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  mere  duty,  of  the  manful  and  noble  spirit  of 
self-control  and  self-sacrifice,  of  that  spirit  which  seeks 
not  self  but  the  good  of  its  neighbor,  that  spirit  which 
the  pupils  cannot  help  seeing  exemplified  in  their 
masters,  if  those  masters  are  such  men  as  St.  Ignatius 
intended  them  to  be. 1  Now,  St.  Ignatius  was  very 
explicit  on  the  necessity  of  setting  a  good  example, 
and  the  Ratio  inculcates  the  same  in  exhorting  the 
teacher  to  edify  the  pupils  by  the  example  of  a  virtuous 
life. 2  Have  the  sons  of  Ignatius  come  up  to  the  ex- 
pectation of  their  father?  Even  the  enemies  of  the 
Order  could  not  help  expressing  their  admiration  for 
the  moral  purity  of  the  lives  of  the  Jesuits. 3  Nor  can 
we  wonder  at  this.  The  solid  training  in  religious 
life,  which  we  described  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  the 
daily  practice  of  mental  and  vocal  prayer,  must  give 
the  religious  teacher  a  self-control  that  preserves  him 
from  the  more  serious  outbreaks  of  passion,  which  may 
prove  detrimental  to  his  authority  and  ruin  all  salutary 
influence  over  his  pupils.4  Professor  Paulseii  observes 

1  See  Father  Lucas,  S.  J.,  in  The  Spiritual  Exercises 
and  the  Education  of  Youth  (London,  1902). 

2  Reg.  com.  mag.  cl.  inf.  10. 

3  Thus  the  Protestant  Sir  Henry  Howorth,  who  attacked 
the  Jesuits  so  bitterly  in  recent  years,  must  confess:  "The 
Jesuits  have  been  a  very  powerful  agency  in  framing  history. 
They  have  some  things  to  be  proud  of.     So  far  as  I  know,  the 
austerity  and  purity  of  their  lives  was  one  of  the  greatest, 
probably  the  greatest  of  all,  reforming  agencies  in  the  purify- 
ing of  the  clergy  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  they  stren- 
uously leavened  religious  life  with  the  stricter  rules  of  life, 
which  the  Council  of  Trent  tried  hard  to  introduce  into  the 
religious  world. »    (The  London  Tablet,  Nov.  23, 1901,  p.  817.) 

4  On  this  whole  subject  it  is  worth  while  to  read  De 
Badts  de  Cugnac,  La  morale  dcs  Jesuites  (Lille,  1879). 


THE  MORAI,  SCOPE.  533 

in  regard  to  the  Jesuit  teacher  :  "According  to  an  old 
saying,  he  is  strongest  who  overcomes  himself.  This 
may  mean  not  only  that  the  greatest  effort  is  needed 
to  rule  one's  self,  but  that  he  who  is  able  to  do  so  pos- 
sesses the  greatest  strength.  Now  it  is  my  conviction 
that  there  was  never  a  body  of  men  who  succeeded 
better  in  controlling  natural  inclinations,  and  in  check- 
ing individual  desires,  than  the  Jesuits.  True,  such 
qualities  do  not  make  one  amiable  ;  no  one  is  amiable 
who  is  without  human  weaknesses.  Perfect  absence 
of  passion  in  a  man  makes  him  awe-inspiring  and 
causes  others  to  feel  uncomfortable  in  his  presence." 
Then  he  adds:  "That  the  Jesuits  up  to  this  day  are  , 
masters  in  the  great  art  of  checking  anger,  and  thus 
masters  in  the  great  art  of  ruling  over  men's  souls,  the; 
reader  may  learn  from  a  book  written  by  a  pupil  of  the  \ 
Jesuit  college  of  Freiburg  and  of  the  Collegium  Ger- 
manicum  in  Rome,  who  afterwards  became  a  Protestant 
minister,  and  who  vividly  and  truthfully  describes  the 
impression  made  upon  him  in  these  Jesuit  institu- 
tions."1 

In  addition  to  these  testimonies,  it  will  not  be 
superfluous  to  cite  the  testimony  of  prominent  men 
who  as  pupils  in  Jesuit  colleges  had  an  opportunity  of 
watching  the  Jesuits  closely.  The  first  witness  is 
Voltaire:  "During  the  seven  years,"  he  writes,  "that  I 
lived  in  the  house  of  the  Jesuits,  what  did  I  see  among 
them?  The  most  laborious,  frugal,  and  regular  life, 
all  their  hours  divided  between  the  care  they  spent  on 
us  and  the  exercises  of  their  austere  profession.  I  at- 

1  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts,  pp.  282—283 
(I,  408 — 409).  The  work  referred  to  is 4  Erinnerungen  eines 
ehemaligen  Jestiitenzoglings  {Recollections  of  a  former  Jesuit 
pupil).  Leipzig,  1862. 


534  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

test  the  same  as  thousands  of  others  brought  up  by 
them,  like  myself;  not  one  will  be  found  to  contradict 
me.  Hence  I  never  cease  wondering  how  any  one 
can  accuse  them  of  teaching  corrupt  morality. " 1  — 
From  Germany  three  men  may  be  quoted  who  are 
considered,  by  friend  and  enemy,  as  equally  distin- 
guished for  gifts,  for  noble  character,  and  for  genuine 
patriotism:  von  Ketteler,  von  Mallinckrodt,  and  Count 
Ballestrem.  It  was  in  the  early  days  of  the  Kultur- 
kampf,  when  the  laws  for  expelling  the  Jesuits  horn 
Germany  were  being  discussed,  that  among  others, 
these  three  stood  up  to  defend  the  persecuted  Order. 
Freiherr  von  Ketteler,  the  celebrated  Bishop  of  Mentz, 
testifies  :  "As  a  youth  I  was  sent  by  my  parents  to  an 
educational  institution  of  the  Jesuits,  where  I  spent 
four  years.  From  home  I  brought  with  me  such  inde- 
pendence of  character  and  such  purity  of  morals,  that 
had  I  noticed  a  shadow  of  what  the  world  styles 
Jesuitical  principles,  I  would  have  turned  away  from 
them  with  loathing  and  disgust.  My  parents,  who 
enjoyed  an  entirely  independent  position  in  life,  and 
who  were  filled  with  the  purest  and  strongest  love  for 
their  children  and  their  true  welfare,  would  not  for  a 
moment  have  left  me  in  that  institution,  had  they 
apprehended  anything  of  the  kind.  There  I  witnessed 
nothing  that  ever  shocked  my  youthful  spirit  trained 
in  the  purest  principles  of  Christianity.  I  took  leave 
of  all  my  teachers  with  deepest  reverence  and  with  the 
firmest  conviction  that  they  were  men  who  daily  made 
on  themselves  the  demands  of  severest  morality. ' '  — 
Similar  testimonies  were  rendered  by  Herr  von  Mal- 
linckrodt, that  chivalrous  spirit  who,  with  perhaps  the 

1    Lettre,  7  tevrier  1746.  —  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  105. 


MORAI,  SCOPE;.  535 

exception  of  Windthorst,  was  the  greatest  man  in  that 
grand  Catholic  organization,  the  German  Centre  Party. 
And  Count  Ballestrem,  now  for  several  years  President 
of  the  German  Reichstag,  commenced  one  of  his 
speeches  before  that  assembly  with  the  following 
words :  "The  last  time  I  had  the  honor  to  address  you 
here,  I  defended  an  institution  which  has  become  dear 
to  me,  and  in  which  I  have  spent  a  great  part  of  my 
life,  the  Prussian  Army.  To-day  I  come  to  defend  an 
institution  which  I  have  known  from  the  days  of  my 
childhood,  and  with  whose  excellences  I  am  ac- 
quainted in  every  detail.  I  come  to  bear  witness  for 
my  venerable  teachers,  for  my  highly  esteemed  friends: 
for  the  religious  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. ' ' l 

Undoubtedly  the  testimony  of  these  men,  who  with 
the  keen  eyes  of  boys  that  so  readily  find  fault  with 
their  teachers  watched  the  Jesuits  and  scrutinized 
their  every  word  and  action,  outweighs  a  thousand 
calumnies  of  prejudiced  pamphleteers,  who,  in  many 
cases,  have  never  seen  a  Jesuit  or  any  other  religious. 
Moreover,  these  witnesses  refute  the  oft -repeated 
charge  of  "the  corrupt  moral  teaching  of  the  Jesuits." 
Fair-minded  Protestants  have  long  since  branded  this 
charge  as  a  slander.  Thus  the  German  Protestant 
Korner  says  in  his  " History  of  Pedagogy772:  "It  is  the 
fashion  to  represent  the  Jesuits  as  heartless  beings, 
malicious,  cunning,  and  deceitful,  although  it  must  be 
known  perfectly  well  that  the  crimes  imputed  to  them 

1  Duhr,  Jesuiten-Fabeln,  ch.  5  (2nd  ed.),  pp.  102—103. 

2  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik  (Leipzig,  1857),  page  12.— 
Quoted  by  Shea;    History  of  Georgetown  College,  page  86. 
Italics  are  ours.  —  See  also  the  splendid  testimony  rendered 
to  the  Jesuits  by  M.  Albert  Duruy  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Monde  s,  January  1,  1880. 


536  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

are  historically  groundless,  and  the  suppression  of  the 
Order  in  the  last  century  was  -due  entirely  to  the  tyran- 
nical violence  of  Ministers  of  State.  It  is  only  our 
duty  to  justice  to  silence  the  folly  of  such  as  declare  the 
Jesuit  system  of  education  to  be  nothing  but  fanatical 
malice  and  a  corruption  of  the  young.  The  Jesuits 
were  the  first  educators  of  their  time.  Protestants  must 
with  envy  acknowledge  the  fruitfulness  of  their  labors; 
they  made  the  study  of  the  ancient  classics  a  practical 
study,  and  training  was  with  them  as  important  as 
education.  They  were  the  first  schoolmasters  to  apply 
psychological  principles  to  education ;  they  did  not 
teach  according  to  abstract  principles,  but  they  trained 
the  individual,  developed  his  mental  resources  for  the 
affairs  of  practical  life,  and  so  imparted  to  the  educa- 
tional system  an  important  influence  in  social  and 
political  life.  From  that  period  and  from  that  system, 
scientific  education  takes  its  rise.  The  Jesuits  succeeded 
in  effecting  a  moral  purity  among  their  pupils  which 
was  unknown  in  other  schools  during  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeen  th  centuries . ' ' 

Indeed,  the  Society  has  ever  been  most  anxious  to 
preserve  her  pupils  from  the  taint  of  impurity,  the  vice 
to  which  youth  most  easily  falls  a  prey.  She  takes 
most  effective  means  to  preserve  what  Chaucer  calls 
the  " sweet  holiness  of  youth."  She  will  inexorably 
expel  a  boy  whose  presence  is  dangerous  to  others, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  purity.  "There  are  some 
faults,"  says  Shea,1  "for  which  the  Jesuit  system  of 
discipline  has  no  mercy,  and  in  the  first  place  is  found 
the  vice  of  impurity.  For  this  crime  the  only  punish- 
ment is  expulsion,  since  contamination  is  looked  upon 

1    History  of  Georgetown ,  p.  85. 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPE.  537 

as  the  greatest  evil  that  can  be  spread  among  the 
young.  Hence  the  virtue  of  purity  is  fostered  with 
all  possible  care  and  solicitude,  and  even  Protestants 
have  borne  witness  to  the  high  moral  purity  of  Jesuit 
students."  (See,  v.  g. ,  Mr.  Korner's  words  quoted 
above.)  So  also  another  writer,  the  German  Protes- 
tant Ruhkopf :  "In  Jesuit  colleges  a  moral  purity 
prevailed  which  we  look  for  in  vain  in  Protestant 
schools  and  universities.  Such  as  were  totally  cor- 
rupt, the  Jesuits  did  not  tolerate  among  their  pupils, 
but  sent  them  away.  In  their  colleges,  impurity  and 
demoralization  could  not  easily  arise,  as  with  the 
utmost  care  they  kept  away  everything  that  could 
taint  the  imagination  of  the  youth  committed  to  their 
charge. ' ' l 

Boarding  schools,  in  particular,  may  easily,  and, 
if  precautions  are  not  taken,  will  almost  invariably 
become  hot-beds  of  immorality.2  Hence  the  anxiety 
of  the  Jesuits  in  guarding  their  pupils.  Yet  they  have 
been  attacked  more  than  once  for  these  very  precau- 
tions. Great  educators,  however,  have  been  one  with 
the  Jesuits  on  this  important  question.  Thus  we  read 
in  the  life  of  President  McCosh :  "The  notion  that  a 
professor's  duty  began  and  ended  with  the  instruction 
and  order  in  the  class  room,  was  abhorrent  to  him. 
He  thought  it  the  most  serious  problem  of  the  higher 

1  Janssen,   Geschichte  des    deutschen    Volkes,  vol.  VII, 
page  82. 

2  See,  for  instance,  what  Arnold  said  on  this  subject,  in 
Fitch,   Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  page  77;   further,  the 
Dublin  Review,  October  1878,  p.  294  foil.,  in  the  highly  in- 
structive article:  "Catholic  Colleges  and  Protestant  Schools." 
Also  "Tom  Brown's  School  Days  at  Rugby,"  especially  the 
Preface  to  the  Sixth  Edition,  will  furnish  interesting  material. 


538  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

education  to  secure  the  oversight  and  unremitting  care 
of  students,  without  espionage  or  any  *  injudicious 
interference  with  the  liberty  of  the  young  man. '  With 
the  fine  language  about  treating  students  as  capable  of 
self-government,  and  responsible  for  their  own  con- 
duct, Dr.  McCosh  never  felt  the  slightest  sympathy, 
believing  that  the  formation  of  good  habits  was  more 
than  the  half  of  education,  and  that  the  morals  of  the 
young,  like  their  intellect  and  judgment,  required 
constant  attention  from  the  instructors. ' ' l 

Now  let  us  listen  to  what  the  head  of  an  important 
department  in  one  of  the  large  institutions  in  this  country 
thinks  on  this  subject :  "One  way  to  deal  with  these 
strange,  excited,  inexperienced,  and  intensely  human 
things  called  Freshmen  is  to  let  them  flounder  till  they 
drown  or  swim  ;  and  this  way  has  been  advocated  by 
men  who  have  no  boys  of  their  own.  It  is  delightfully 
simple,  if  we  can  only  shut  eye  and  ear  and  heart  and 
conscience ;  and  it  has  a  kind  of  plausibility  in  the 
examples  of  men  who  through  rough  usage  have 
achieved  strong  character.  'The  objection,'  as  the 
master  of  a  great  school  said  the  other  day,  4s  the 
waste ;  and  he  added,  '  it  is  such  an  awful  thing  to 
waste  human  life !'  This  method  is  a  cruel  method, 
ignoring  all  the  sensibilities  of  that  delicate,  high- 
strung  instrument  which  we  call  the  soul.  If  none 
but  the  fittest  survived,  the  cruelty  might  be  defended; 
but  some,  who  unhappily  cannot  drown,  become 
cramped  swimmers  for  all  their  days.  Busy  and  worn 
as  a  college  teacher  usually  is,  thirsty  for  the  advance- 
ment of  learning  as  he  is  assumed  always  to  be,  he 
cannot  let  hundreds  of  young  men  pass  before  him, 

1    Life  of  James  McCosh,  pp.  33  and  35. 


THE  MORAI,  SCOPE.  539 

unheeded  and  unfriended.  At  Harvard  College,  the 
Faculty,  through  its  system  of  advisers  for  Freshmen, 
has  made  a  beginning ;  and  though  there  are  hardly 
enough  advisers  to  go  round,  the  system  has  proved 
its  usefulness.  At  Harvard  College,  also,  a  large 
committee  of  Seniors  and  Juniors  has  assumed  some 
responsibility  for  all  the  Freshmen.  Each  undertakes 
to  see  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  Freshmen 
assigned  to  him,  and  to  give  every  one  of  them,  besides 
kindly  greeting  and  good  advice,  the  feeling  that  an 
experienced  undergraduate  may  be  counted  on  as  a 
friend  in  need. ' '  —  This  is  excellent,  but  all  the  more 
surprised  will  the  reader  be  to  find  that  this  author 
continues  in  the  following  strain  :  "Whether  colleges 
should  guard  their  students  more  closely  than  they  do 
—  whether,  for  example,  they  should  with  gates  and 
bars  protect  their  dormitories  against  the  inroads  of 
bad  women  —  is  an  open  question.  For  the  delib- 
erately vicious  such  safeguards  would  amount  to 
nothing ;  but  for  the  weak  they  might  lessen  the  dan- 
ger of  sudden  temptation. " l  As  to  the  "open  ques- 

1  Atlantic  Monthly ',  March  1900.  —  A  somewhat  sim- 
ilar principle  is  stated  in  an  article  on  Eton,  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  April  1861:  * 'It  was  the  fashion  in  Sydney  Smith's 
days  —  it  is  so  still  —  to  maintain  that  the  neglect  to  which 
boys  are  necessarily  exposed  at  our  public  schools,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  insufficient  number  of  assistant  masters,  ren- 
ders them  self-reliant  and  manly;  and  that  the  premature 
initiation  into  vice,  which  too  often  results  from  that  cause, 
imparts  to  them  an  early  knowledge  of  what  are  apologetical- 
ly called  'the  ways  of  the  world';  and  prevents  their  running 
riot  when  subsequently  exposed  at  the  universities  to  still 
greater  temptations  than  those  offered  them  in  their  boyhood 
by  the  public-houses  and  slums  of  Eton  and  Windsor." 
Quoted  in  the  Dublin  Review ',  October  1878,  p.  308.  —  This 


540  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

tion"  we  hold  rather  that  it  is  a  shocking  principle. 
Must  not  fathers  and  mothers,  who  have  sons  in  such 
schools,  shudder  at  the  thought  that  their  children 
will  scarcely  be  protected  against  the  worst  and  most 
disgraceful  of  moral  dangers,  since  the  school  authori- 
ties think  it  an  "open  question"  whether  such  protec- 
tion is  advisable?  In  too  many  cases  are  youths  "left 
to  flounder  till  they  drown  or  swim. "  And  the  major- 
ity will  drown,  or  become  cramped  swimmers  for  all 
their  days ;  that  is,  become  moral,  and  perhaps  phys- 
ical wrecks.  This  is  the  end  of  all  that  specious  but 
senseless  talk  about  "the  sanctity  of  the  individual," 
"advantage  of  rough  usage,"  "dangers  of  guarding 
sternly  or  tenderly,"  "free  spirit  of  our  country,"  and 
the  like.  The  Divine  Teacher  of  mankind,  the  friend 
of  children,  has  clearly  and  sternly  expressed  His 
"views"  upon  these  points:  "He  that  shall  scan- 
dalize" —  and  we  may  add,  he  that  allows  others  to 
scandalize,  or  does  not  prevent  from  being  scandalized 
—  "one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  in  me,  it  were 
better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his 
neck,  and  that  he  should  be  drowned  in  the  depth  of 
the  sea. ' '  Neglect  of  watchfulness  in  this  regard  is 
nothing  less  than  treason ;  treason  towards  the  souls 
of  the  pupils  who  should  be  guarded  against  their 
worst  foes,  their  own  corrupt  inclinations ;  treason 
against  parents  who  demand  that  their  children  be  not 
exposed  to  such  experiments. 

The  Jesuits  do  not  let  their  pupils  "flounder  till 
they  drown  or  swim."     They  consider  it  their  most 

*  'premature  initiation  into  vice"  was,  accordingly,  a  frequent 
result  of  the  system  of  the  great  English  public  schools; 
moreover,  it  was  considered  a  positive  benefit.  A  sad  prerog- 
ative of  these  schools,  indeed ! 


THE  MORAL  SCOPE.  541 

sacred  obligation  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  their 
charges  from  coming  into  contact  with  moral  contam- 
ination. "But,"  it  is  objected,  "what  good  comes 
from  all  your  protection?  It  usually  happens  that 
your  pupil  on  leaving  the  place  where  he  was  pro- 
tected against  all  dangers,  falls  the  more  quickly  and 
the  more  shamefully.  And  why?  For  the  very  reason 
that  he  was  shielded  on  all  sides  and  never  struggled 
with  dangers  and  temptations.  He  is  not  prepared, 
he  is  caught  unawares,  and  yields  unconditionally 
and  hopelessly,  whereas  had  he  been  trained  by  daily 
encounter  with  temptation  his  character  would  have 
been  hardened."1  If  the  case  were  frequent,  if  the 
deeper  fall  inevitably  followed  the  purer  boyhood, 
then  we  may  as  well  despair  of  all  education  and  all 
virtue.  Happily,  we  have  here  one  of  those  sweeping 
generalizations  and  exaggerations,  so  common  with 
certain  writers.  We  answer:  First,  not  all  fall  away 
after  leaving  the  sheltering  precincts  of  the  college. 
Many  remain  good  among  the  greatest  dangers  and 
temptations.  And  this  perseverance  they  owe  to  the 
precautions  taken  in  the  college  and  to  the  virtuous 
habits  acquired  through  the  daily  practice  of  observing 
the  regulations  of  these  institutions.  The  continued 
moral  efforts  required  for  doing  this  are  as  effective  for 

1  Such  objections  have  sometimes  been  made  even  by 
short-sighted  Catholics  who,  dazzled  by  the  outward  brilliant 
successes  of  the  great  Protestant  schools,  wished  some  of 
their  features  to  be  introduced  into  Catholic  colleges.  These 
views  have  been  ably  refuted  in  various  articles  of  the  Dublin 
Review.  See  e.  g.  July  and  October  1878.  —  On  the  other  hand, 
not  long  ago  President  Jones  of  Hobart  plainly  advocated 
greatly  increased  supervision  in  student  life.  He  does  not 
think  that  more  stringent  regulations  would  keep  the  students 
"milksops."  The  Forum,  Jan.  1901,  592—593. 


542  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

producing  strength  of  character  as  the  "rough  usage" 
and,  at  the  same  time,  less  dangerous.  Secondly, 
many  of  those  who  afterwards  disgrace  themselves, 
would  have  done  so  even  had  they  never  been  inside 
college  walls,  in  many  cases  much  earlier,  and  per- 
haps more  irreparably.  It  was  college  discipline  that 
prevented  them  from  earlier  ruin.  St.  Ignatius  used 
to  say:  "To  have  prevented  one  sin  is  worth  all  the 
troubles  and  labors  of  this  life. ' '  Thirdly,  many  come  to 
Catholic  academies  and  colleges  from  public  and  pri- 
vate schools,  where  they  have  acquired  such  a  knowl- 
edge of  life  and  of  the  "ways  of  the  world,"  that  edu- 
cators are  sometimes  horrified  at  discovering  what  boys 
of  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  have  heard  and  experi- 
enced. For  such  boys  the  quiet  and  seclusion  of  a 
Catholic  college  and  its  strict  discipline  are  of  the 
greatest  benefit,  and  the  spirit  of  piety  and  modesty 
pervading  the  whole  atmosphere  acts  upon  those  poor 
boys  as  the  healthy,  pure  air  of  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico  upon  consumptives.  If  the  spiritual  consump- 
tion has  not  progressed  too  far,  two  or  three  years 
spent  in  thoroughly  Christian  surroundings,  often 
restore  such  youths  to  complete  health  of  soul  and 
body.  There  is  scarcely  a  Jesuit  teacher  who  could 
not  recount  many  instances  of  boys  whose  reformation 
was  so  thorough,  that  they  became  most  excellent 
men.  Without  this  salutary  influence  their  souls 
would  have  sunk  into  the  abyss  of  vice  and  crime, 
and  their  bodies  very  likely  into  an  early  grave. 
Fourthly,  boys  who  were 'thus  protected  in  college, 
and  afterwards  go  astray  will  in  most  cases  return. 
Their  hearts  will  not  be  happy  in  their  pleasures  and 
excesses;  for  the  religious  and  moral  principles  im- 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPE.  543 

planted  in  them  can  never  be  totally  destroyed.  After 
a  brief  experience  they  become  disgusted  with  their 
lives  and  begin  to  loath  their  vices.  A  young  man 
without  any  previous  religious  training  sees  no  way 
out  of  the  quagmire  of  vice;  he  easily  abandons  him- 
self the  more  to  his  evil  passions.  But  it  is  very 
different  with  the  young  man  who  grew  up  under 
religious  influences.  In  moments  of  disgust  and 
remorse,  at  a  sudden  calamity  that  befalls  him  or  those 
near  him,  he  remembers  not  only  the  happiness  of  his 
childhood  but  also  the  salutary  advice  of  his  teacher, 
to  whom  he  used  to  look  up  as  a  fatherly  friend.  Such 
recollections  have  saved  more  than  one  young  man 
who  had  gone  astray.  Finally,  are  those  young  men 
who  from  early  years  and  during  college  life  were  left 
to  their  "own  experience  and  rough  usage"  of  temp- 
tations, later  on,  in  the  battles  of  life,  better  and  of 
purer  morals,  then  those  *  'sheltered' '  against  dangers? 
An  honest  inquiry  will  assuredly  be  met  with  a 
decided  answer  in  the  negative. 

The  idea  of  supervision  and  restriction  seems  to  be 
especially  repugnant  to  people  in  England  and 
America.  Undoubtedly,  the  character  of  the  Amer- 
ican and  English  youth  differs  in  several  points  from 
that  of  the  youth  of  other  countries.  For  this  reason 
we  may  admit,  with  a  writer  in  the  Dublin  Review,1 
that  in  dealing  with  English  —  and  we  add:  with 
American — youths,  it  will  be  found  beneficial  to  exer- 
cise a  somewhat  less  minute  supervision  than  that 
practised  in  some  other  countries.  This  seems  to  be 
demanded  by  the  peculiar  character  and  the  spirit  of 
the  public  and  private  life  of  the  English  and  Amer- 

1    Dublin  Review,  October  1878,  p.  285,  note. 


544  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

lean  people.  On  the  other  hand,  these  differences 
have  frequently  been  exaggerated,  and  conclusions 
have  been  drawn  from  these  discrepancies  of  character 
which  are  altogether  unjustified.  Opinions  have  been 
uttered  which  seem  to  imply  an  intrinsic  superiority 
of  the  American  youth  over  those  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  a  superiority  which  renders  laws  that  are 
necessary  for  good  education  everywhere  else,  super- 
fluous in  this  country.  Some  seem  to  think  that 
restrictions  are  little  compatible  with  republican  insti- 
tutions. Professor  Edward  J.  Goodwin,  of  New  York, 
said  recently:  "German  children  are  taught  to  submit 
to  authority,  but  our  boys  must  be  taught  to  govern 
themselves."  l  We  readily  admit  that  the  principle  of 
submitting  to  authority  can  be  carried  to  extremes,  in 
education  as  well  as  in  political  life.  But  we  think 
that  boys  will  learn  to  govern  themselves  only  by  sub- 
mitting first  to  authority,  as  in  early  years  they  possess 
neither  the  sufficient  knowledge  nor  the  necessary 
strength  of  will  to  govern  themselves  reasonably.  We 
fasten  the  young  tender  tree  to  a  pole,  lest  it  grow 
crooked  or  be  bent  and  broken  by  the  storm;  the  same 
is  necessary,  and  to  a  much  higher  degree,  in  the  case 
of  the  frail  human  sapling  in  which  so  many  perverse 
inclinations  are  hidden  which  tend  to  foster  a  growth 
in  the  wrong  direction.  Above  all,  educators  should 
not  forget  that  there  is  one  authority  to  which  the 
youths  of  every  country  must  submit  unconditionally, 
and  that  is  the  authority  of  the  Divine  Lawgiver  as 
expressed  in  the  precepts  of  morality  —  and  obedience 
is  one  of  these  precepts.  The  same  Divine  authority 

1    Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1901,  vol.  I, 
p.  249. 


THE;  MORAI,  SCOPE.  545 

imposes  the  sacred  duty  on  educators  to  watch  over 
their  charges,  and  to  remove,  as  far  as  lies  in  their 
power,  all  that  endangers  their  morality.  The  Chris- 
tian educator  fears  lest  any  neglect  in  this  matter  may 
draw  upon  him  the  dreadful  words  addressed  to  the 
''watchman  to  the  house  of  Israel":  "If  thou  declare 
it  not  to  him  [the  wicked  man],  nor  speak  to  him, 
that  he  may  be  converted  from  his  wicked  way  and 
live:  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity, 
but  I  will  require  his  blood  at  thy  hand."  l  Indeed, 
it  is  the  fatherly  love  and  care  for  the  welfare  of  their 
pupils  which  leads  the  Christian  educator  to  exercise 
supervision  over  his  pupils.  He  has  received  from 
the  parents  that  treasure  which  is  to  them  more 
precious  than  anything  on  earth ;  their  own  dearly 
beloved  children,  for  whom  they  toil  and  labor,  over 
whom  they  anxiously  watch  and  pray  lest  they  should 
suffer  shipwreck  in  regard  to  their  faith  and  virtue, 
especially  the  virtue  of  purity  which  is  so  beautiful, 
so  priceless,  and  yet  so  difficult  of  securing  in  youth. 
The  teacher  would  be  guilty  of  the  basest  breach  of 
confidence,  did  he  not  strain  every  nerve  to  avert  a 
calamity  from  those  so  sacredly  entrusted  to  him.  We 
can  well  understand  that  at  times  this  or  that  particu- 
lar method  may  justly  be  censured,  as,  in  reality,  not 
being  conducive  to  the  end  which  is  sought;  but  that 
the  whole  system,  the  very  principle,  should  be 
ridiculed  and  condemned,  spoken  of  in  terms  of  in- 
vective and  indignation,  and  stigmatized  by  such 
opprobrious  names  as  "espionage"  and  the  like  — 
this,  we  say,  is  startling.2  It  can  be  explained  only 

1  Ezech.  3,  18. 

2  Dublin  Review,  April  1878,  p.  330. 

35 


546  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

from  the  false  philosophical  notions  of  such  critics; 
particularly  from  their  wrong  conception  and  very 
low  valuation  of  the  human  soul. 

Many,  especially  such  as  have  never  stepped  inside 
the  doors  of  a  Jesuit  college,  are  filled  with  an  absurd 
dread  of  the  supervision  exercised,  as  they  fancy,  by 
the  Jesuits.  From  time  to  time,  however,  when  some 
appalling  scandals  are  discovered  within  the  walls  of 
a  college  where  the  students  enjoy  pretty  nearly  full 
liberty,  or  when  scores,  if  not  hundreds  of  students, 
exhibit  most  disgraceful  scenes  of  disorder  on  the 
public  streets,  then  the  eyes  of  many  are  opened  and 
they  see  that,  after  all,  some  supervision,  and  a  pretty 
strict  one,  is  necessary  in  a  place  where  hundreds  of 
hot-blooded  youths  live  together.  In  1891,  an  Eng- 
lish non-Catholic  paper,  speaking  about  scandalous 
disclosures  on  board  the  school-ship  Britannia,  said 
there  were  two  kinds  of  public  schools,  Jesuit  and 
Gaol-bird  school.  "The  Jesuit  idea  of  school  life  is 
that  a  boy  at  school  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  in 
the  same  position  as  he  will  afterwards  be  in  as  a  man 
in  the  world,  that  is  to  say,  the  position  not  of  a  wild 
beast  in  an  African  jungle,  free  to  do  what  he  pleases, 
but  of  a  human  being  in  a  civilized  country,  living 
under  the  eye  of  the  law.  The  Jesuits  in  fact  police 
their  schools,  that  is,  what  it  comes  to.  This  policing 
is  called  by  people  who  don't  like  it  (i.  e.  don't  like 
the  trouble  of  enforcing  it)  espionage  and  other  ugly 
names.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  amounts  to  no  more 
than  that  ordinary  care  which  a  commonly  decent  and 
commonly  sensible  father  exercises  in  his  own  house: 
It  means  simply  reasonable  supervision,  aided  of 
course  by  rationally  constructed  school  buildings  — 


THE  MORAI,  SCOPE.  547 

massing  of  boys  for  school  as  well  as  for  play  —  living 
in  the  light  of  day,  in  fact.  Now,  neither  a  boy  nor  a 
man  does  much  harm  or  has  much  harm  done  to  him, 
so  long  as  he  lives  in  the  light  of  day,  and  the  con- 
sequence is  that  although,  of  course,  many  boys  who 
leave  Jesuit  schools  become  bad  men  afterwards,  yet 
they  get  no  harm  while  they  stay  at  school.  They 
leave  as  good  as  they  come  and,  moreover,  if  they  do 
not  come  pretty  reasonably  good,  they  do  not  stay 
long.  The  father  gets  a  letter  to  say  'the  boy  is  doing 
no  good  at  school  and  had  better  be  removed. '  The 
Goal-bird  system  is  simplicity  itself.  The  head 
master  draws  his  salary,  attends  to  the  teaching  of 
Greek  and  L,atin  and  shuts  his  eyes  firmly,  deliber- 
ately, conscientiously,  like  an  English  gentleman,  as 
he  would  say  himself,  to  everything  else  going  on 
around  him. ' '  l  This  is  very  severe  language.  May 
it  not  partly  apply  to  a  number  of  " educators"  in  this 
country,  who  denounce  so  strongly  any  "paternalism" 
exercised  over  the  pupils  ? 

As  regards  the  charges  against  the  precautions 
taken  in  Jesuit  colleges,  they  are  usually  founded 
upon  wrong  suppositions.  It  is  believed  that  the 
Jesuit  pupil  is  watched  every  moment.  This  is  not  so; 
he  has  liberty  enough  within  a  certain  reasonable 
limit.  Of  course,  it  is  a  most  delicate  and  difficult 
question  how  this  limit  is  to  be  determined.  It  is  not 
possible  to  lay  down  any  particulars  on  this  subject, 
because,  in  this  as  in  other  matters,  there  exists  con- 
siderable variety  in  different  Jesuit  colleges,  and 
Superiors  assign  that  measure  of  liberty  which,  con- 

1  Truth,  November  1891 ;  quoted  in  the  Tablet,  Novem- 
ber 14,  1891. 


548  JKSUIT    EDUCATION. 

sidering  the  difference  of  places  and  circumstances, 
especially  the  age  and  character  of  the  pupils,  seems 
not  to  expose  them  to  great  dangers.  —  It  is  also 
falsely  supposed  that  no  word  of  necessary  explanation 
is  given  concerning  the  dangers  that  await  the  pupil 
outside  the  college  walls;  that  educators  imperatively 
forbid  any  inquiry  about  matters  which  the  students 
may  be  anxious  to  ask;  that  they  never  give  advice  and 
instruction  on  matters  which  at  a  certain  age  a  young 
man  may,  and  considering  the  circumstances,  should 
know,  in  order  not  to  be  caught  unawares  by  dangers 
and  temptations,  which  are  sure  to  come.1  Necessary 
instruction  and  advice,  according  to  age  and  other  cir- 
cumstances, will  be  given,  above  all,  by  the  confessor; 
the  teacher  also,  with  moderation  and  discretion,  will 
do  the  same.  Many  occasions  will  offer  in  the  ex- 
planation of  the  catechism,  of  the  authors,  and  in 
private  conversations. 

A  few  words  must  be  said  about  the  private  talks 
with  boys  so  much  recommended  in  the  Jesuit  system. 
Father  Jouvancy  says  the  teacher  should  speak  in 
private  more  frequently  with  those  who  seem  to  be  ex- 
posed to  worse  and  more  dangerous  faults. 2  Father 
Sacchini  remarks  that  he  should  study  the  character 
and  disposition  of  each  pupil,  to  discover  the  bad  out- 
croppings  on  the  tender  plant  and  nip  them  in  the 
bud.3  Father  Kropf  advises  the  teacher  to  go  care- 
fully over  the  names  of  his  pupils  every  Sunday  and 
to  recommend  them  in  prayer  to  our  Lord  and  His 
Blessed  Mother.  While  doing  this  he  should  reflect 

1  On  this  important  point  see  P&re  Rochemonteix,  vol. 
II,  p.  55  foil. 

2  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  1,  art.  2. 

3  Paraenesis,  art.  18. 


THE  MORAL  SCOPE.  549 

especially  whether  it  is  advisable  to  see  this  boy  or 
that  in  private,  to  correct  him,  to  warn  him  against  a 
danger,  or  whether  it  is  well  to  communicate  with  his 
parents.1     What  should  be  treated  of  in  these  private 
conversations  is  plain  from  Jouvancy  and  Sacchini. 
And  the  47th  rule  of  the  teachers  says  briefly,  they 
should  treat  only  of  serious  matters.2     Speaking  of 
conversation  with  the  students,  the  Father  General 
Vitelleschi,  in  1639,  gave  characteristic  directions:  "It 
will  be  very  useful  if  from  time  to  time  the  professors 
treat  with  their  auditors,  and  converse  with  them,  not 
about  vain  rumors  and  other  affairs  that  are  not  to  the 
purpose,  but  about  those  that  appertain  to  their  well- 
being  and  education;  going  into  the  particulars  that 
seem  most  to  meet  their  wants;  and  showing  them 
how  they  ought  to  conduct  themselves  in  studies  and 
piety.     Let  the  professors  be  persuaded  that  a  single 
talk  in  private,  animated  with  true  zeal  and  prudence 
on  their  part,  will  penetrate  the  heart  deeper  and  work 
more  powerfully,  than  many  lectures   and  sermons 
given  to  all  in  common. ' ' 3   This  keeping  in  touch  with 
the  individual  pupil  has  always  been  considered  as 
one  of  the  sources  of  the  success  of  the  Jesuits  in  their 
educational   labor.       Protestant    educators    have    not 
failed    to    recognize    this   and   to   speak   of    it   with 
approval.     Thus  Sir  Joshua  Fitch  writes  of  Arnold: 
"Much  of  the  influence  he  gained  over  his  scholars — 
influence  which  enabled  him  to  dispense  in  an  in- 
creasing   degree    with    corporal    punishment  —  was 
attributed  to  his  knowledge  of  the  individual  char- 

1  Ratio  et  Via,  ch.  IV,  art.  1,  §  6. 

2  See  also  Woodstock  Letters,  1896,  p.  251. 

3  Monumenta    Gennaniae  Paedag.,    Pachtler,    vol.    Ill, 
p.  59.  —  Hughes,  Loyola,  p.  108. 


55°  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

acteristics  of  boys.  .  .  .  This  is  a  kind  of  knowledge 
which  has  long  been  known  to  be  characteristic  of  the 
disciplinary  system  of  the  Jesuits,  but  has  not  been 
common  among  the  head  masters  of  English  public 
schools. " l  It  is  almost  altogether  absent  in  most 
modern  systems,  consistently  with  their  principle  of 
separating  training  from  teaching,  education  from  in- 
struction, a  principle  which,  as  M.  Brunetiere  said, 
''our  forefathers  would  not  have  been  able  to  under- 
stand."2 

Supervision  and  exhortation  are  powerful  means 
for  preserving  the  good  morals  of  youths,  but  much 
more  powerful  are  the  divinely  appointed  means,  Con- 
fession and  Communion.  Although  they  are  practised 
in  all  Catholic  colleges,  the  Jesuits,  following  the 
example  and  advice  of  their  founder,  worked  most 
zealously  for  the  spread  of  frequent  confession  and 
communion.  By  doing  so  they  incurred  the  special 
hatred  of  the  Jansenists,  whose  rigorous  views  they 
vigorously  opposed.  We  need  not  here  refute  the 
Protestant  views  of  auricular  confession.  Every  Cath- 
olic knows  that  it  is  not  a  "torture  chamber  of  con- 
science," not  an  "unwarrantable  invasion  of  the 
privacy  of  the  individual,"  not  an  "intrusion  into  the 
sacred  domain  of  domestic  life,"  not  a  "source  of 
weakness  to  the  will,"  not  a  "dangerous  and  demor- 
alizing practice."  To  men  who  use  such  language 
and  hold  such  opinions  may  be  applied  the  words  of 
the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude  the  Apostle:  "Blasphemant 
quod  ignorant,  they  blaspheme  things  which  they 
know  not."  Apart  from  the  divine  institution,  the 

1  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  p.  102. 

2  Revue  des  Deux-Mondes>     15  fevrier  1895. 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPK.  551 

Catholic  knows  that  confession,  the  " ministry  of 
reconciliation, "  the  "sacrament  of  peace,"  is  a  source 
of  unspeakable  blessings,  of  consolation  in  distress,  of 
encouragement  in  despair,  of  advice  in  perplexities. 
With  reference  to  our  object,  the  English  Jesuit  Father 
Clarke  (Oxford),  in  an  article  entitled  "The  Practice 
of  Confession  in  the  Catholic  Church,"  l  points  out 
the  special  advantages  of  confession  for  the  moral 
training  of  the  young.  The  passage  is  so  beautiful 
and  so  much  to  our  purpose  that  it  is  well  to  quote  it 
in  its  entirety. 

"It  has  probably  occurred  to  the  mind  of  most 
Catholics,  as  it  has  often  occurred  to  my  own,  that  if 
there  were  no  other  proof  of  the  paramount  claims  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  we  should  find  a  sufficient  one 
in  the  elaborate  care  with  which  she  watches  over  the 
innocence  of  the  young.  To  guard  from  evil  and  cor- 
ruption the  lambs  of  the  fold  is  one  of  her  chief  duties 
and  privileges.  This  loving  care  she  inherits  from 
her  Divine  Founder,  Who  was  the  friend  and  lover  of 
little  children.  Now,  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  possible 
for  any  unprejudiced  and  well-informed  person,  who 
compares  the  practical  working  of  the  Catholic  system 
with  that  of  any  other  religious  system  in  the  world, 
to  deny  her  unrivalled  and  unapproachable  superiority 
in  this  respect.  She  shields  her  little  ones  in  their 
early  childhood  with  all  the  jealous  care  of  the  most 
tender  mother,  and  when  the  time  comes  for  the  safe 
seclusion  of  the  parental  roof  to  be  exchanged  for  a 
freer  intercourse  with  their  fellows,  she  provides  safe- 
guards for  their  purity  that  are  unknown,  or  almost 
unknown,  outside  her  fold.  For  the  due  education  of 

1    North  American  Revieiu,  December  1899. 


552  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

boys,  large  schools,  and  for  those  of  the  upper  class, 
large  boarding  schools  are  a  practical  necessity.  Then 
comes  the  dangerous  time,  and  how  great  the  dangers 
of  that  time  are  is  well  known  to  every  one  who  has 
had  an  experience  of  the  inner  working  of  English 
public  schools.  To  keep  boys  safe  from  a  most  peril- 
ous, if  not  fatal,  contact  with  vice  and  sin,  is  a  problem 
which  has  exercised  the  mind  and  troubled  the  con- 
science of  every  one  who  has  taken  part  in  the 
management  of  any  of  our  large  schools  and  colleges; 
and  those  among  Protestant  educators  who  have  studied 
the  subject  most  deeply,  and  who  have  had  long  ex- 
perience to  guide  them,  have  had  to  admit,  with 
sorrow  and  grief,  that  the  task  was  a  hopeless  one. l 
They  have  had  to  submit  to  what  they  considered  an 
inevitable  evil,  and  their  best  hope  has  been  by  per- 
sonal influence  to  mitigate  to  some  extent  that  which 
they  knew  they  were  powerless  to  prevent.  But  is  the 
evil  one  for  which  no  remedy  can  be  provided?  God 
forbid!  The  Catholic  Church  provides  an  effective 
remedy  for  this  as  for  every  other  evil  incident  to 
human  life.  Here  I  can  speak  from  a  large  experience, 
and  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  subject.  Again  and 
again  I  have  been  assured  by  boys  who  have  passed 
through  Catholic  colleges,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  form,  that  during  the  whole  of  their  time  there 
they  never  heard  one  immodest  word,  or  came  into 

1  Compare  with  this  the  passage  quoted  by  Arnold : 
"Public  schools  are  the  very  seats  and  nurseries  of  vice.  It 
may  be  unavoidable,  or  it  may  not,  but  the  fact  is  indisput- 
able. None  can  pass  through  a  large  school  without  being 
pretty  intimately  acquainted  with  vice,  and  few,  alas !  very 
few,  without  tasting  too  largely  of  that  poisoned  bowl." 
Fitch,  /.  c.y  p.  77. 


MORAL  SCOPE.  553 

contact  with  any  sort  of  temptation  to  evil  from  those 
with  whom  they  associated.  I  have  known  some  who 
at  the  end  of  their  school  course  wrere  as  innocent  of 
moral  evil  as  on  the  day  they  entered,  and  were  utterly 
shocked  and  disgusted  when  they  were  thrown  into 
the  vortex  of  the  world  outside,  and  had  to  listen  to 
the  kind  of  talk  that  too  often  forms  the  common  staple 
of  conversation  among  those  who  have  had  a  Protes- 
tant education.  ...  I  do  not  say  that  the  Church  is 
always  successful  in  her  endeavors.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that,  even  in  a  Catholic  school,  evil  may  for  a 
time  run  riot.  One  sinner  may  destroy  much  good. 
But  the  evil  never  lasts  long,  and  the  Catholic  system 
brings  about  a  speedy  recovery.  What  I  do  assert  is 
that  the  moral  perils,  to  which  a  boy  is  exposed  in  a 
Catholic  school,  are  infinitesimal  as  compared  with 
those  which  will  surround  him  in  any  of  the  Protestant 
public  schools  and  colleges. 

* ( In  all  this  the  chief  engine  for  the  good  work  is 
the  confessional.  There  are,  of  course,  many  others. 
There  is  the  personal  influence  and  the  keen  sense  of 
responsibility  of  those  who  are  in  authority;  there  is 
the  close  and  intimate  friendship  existing  between  the 
teacher  and  the  taught,  which  is  something  utterly 
different  from  the  comparatively  cold  relations  and 
official  reserve  which  make  the  Protestant  master  far 
more  of  a  stranger  to  his  boys.  But  it  is  the  weekly 
or  fortnightly  confession  that  is  the  real  safeguard. 
It  is  in  the  confessor  that  he  has  his  trusted  friend,  to 
whom  he  freely  talks  of  all  his  dangers  and  tempta- 
tions; it  is  confession  that  keeps  the  moral  atmosphere 
healthy  and  pure ;  it  is  confession  that  maintains  the 
high  standard  of  life  and  conversation  prevailing, 


554  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

through  God's  mercy,  in  our  Catholic  schools  and 
colleges;  it  is  confession  that  enables  the  Catholic 
parent  to  entrust  his  boy  to  the  good  priests,  whether 
secular  or  regular,  who  devote  themselves  to  the  work 
of  education,  without  any  of  those  qualms  or  fears, 
that  anxiety  and  foreboding  about  the  future,  that  fill 
the  heart  of  the  Protestant  parent  when  he  bids  fare- 
well to  his  innocent  child  on  his  first  plunge  into  the 
vortex  of  a  Protestant  public  school. 

1  'But  there  is  one  charge,  one  false  and  cruel  charge, 
which  some  Protestant  writers  bring  against  confession. 
They  say  that  it  introduces  the  young  and  innocent  to 
a  knowledge  of  subjects  which  are  sacro  digna  silentiOj 
and  even  suggests  to  them  evil  of  which  they  would 
otherwise  be  ignorant.  I  can  only  assure  my  readers 
(in  answer  to  this  gratuitous  calumny),  on  the  word 
of  an  honest  man,  that  during  the  twenty  years  and 
more  that  I  have  been  constantly  hearing  confessions 
of  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  of  every  class  and 
in  various  countries,  I  have  never  known  of  a  single 
instance  of  any  knowledge  of  evil  having  been  im- 
parted in  the  confessional.  I  am  sure  that  I  may 
speak  for  all  my  fellow  priests  all  over  the  world,  when 
I  say  that  I  would,  with  God's  help,  far  rather  be  torn 
in  a  thousand  pieces  than  say  one  word  in  the  confes- 
sional that  could  endanger  the  purity  of  the  young,  or 
impart  a  knowledge  of  evil  to  one  previously  ignorant 
of  it. 

* '  But  if  there  should  be  any  of  my  readers  who  are 
not  willing  to  accept  my  own  personal  assurance,  there 
is  another  consideration  which  ought  to  convince 
them.  If  there  were  in  this  accusation  the  smallest 
element  of  truth,  every  good  mother  would,  in  her 


THE  MORAI,  SCOPE.  555 

tender  care  for  her  children's  innocence,  have  the 
greatest  horror  of  seeing  her  little  ones  kneeling  before 
the  priest,  and  every  careful  father  would  forbid  his 
boys  and  girls  from  incurring  the  risk  of  such  con- 
tamination. Is  this  the  case?  Do  we  find  good 
Catholic  parents  dreading  the  influence  of  the  con- 
fessional for  their  children  ?  On  the  contrary,  there  is 
nothing  that  gives  them  more  hearty  satisfaction  than 
to  know  that  their  sons  and  daughters  are,  from  their 
earliest  years,  regular  in  making  their  confession 
month  by  month,  or  week  by  week.  They  regard  it 
as  the  best  possible  safeguard  for  their  innocence  and 
virtue.  They  are  alarmed  and  anxious  if,  when  boy- 
hood emerges  into  youth,  their  sons  grow  irregular  in 
frequenting  the  tribunal  of  penance.  They  fear  there 
must  be  something  wrong.  They  urge  and  entreat 
them  not  to  fall  away  from  the  practice  of  confession. 
Joy  fills  the  mother's  heart  when  she  sees  her  son  once 
more  returning,  it  may  be  after  long  absence,  to  that 
fount  of  mercy  and  of  grace,  where  she  knows  that  he 
will  obtain  pardon  for  the  past,  and  strength  and  help 
for  the  struggles  of  the  future. ' ' 

It  would  be  presumption  on  our  part  to  make 
further  comment  on  these  beautiful  words.  Every 
Catholic  will  testify  to  the  truth  of  Father  Clarke's 
description  of  the  salutary  influence  confession  exer- 
cises over  the  young  during  the  most  dangerous  period 
of  life.  Now  let  us  contrast  with  this  description 
a  picture  drawn  from  the  life  of  a  Protestant,  New- 
man, in  the  introduction  of  Loss  and  Gain,  describes 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  has  just 
decided  to  send  his  son  Charles  to  one  of  the  large 
public  schools.  "Seclusion",  he  says  to  himself,  "is 


55$  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

no  security  for  virtue.  There  is  no  telling. what  is  in 
a  boy's  heart ;  he  may  look  as  open  and  happy  as 
usual,  and  be  as  kind  and  as  attentive,  when  there  is 
a  great  deal  wrong  going  on  within.  The  heart  is  a 
secret  with  its  Maker.  No  one  on  earth  can  hope  to 
get  at  it,  or  to  touch  it.  I  have  a  cure  of  souls ;  what 
do  I  really  know  of  my  parishioners?  Nothing ;  their 
hearts  are  sealed  books  to  me.  And  this  dear  boy,  he 
comes  close  to  me ;  he  throws  his  arms  around  me, 
but  his  soul  is  as  much  out  of  my  sight  as  if  he  were 
at  the  antipodes.  I  am  not  accusing  him  of  reserve, 
dear  fellow ;  his  very  love  and  reverence  for  me  keep 
him  in  a  sort  of  charmed  solitude.  I  cannot  expect  to 
get  at  the  bottom  of  him. 

'Bach  iu  his  hidden  sphere  of  bliss  or  woe, 
Our  hermit  spirits  dwell.* 

It  is  our  lot  here  below.  No  one  on  earth  can  know 
Charles's  secret  thoughts.  Did  I  guard  him  here  at 
home  ever  so  well,  yet,  in  due  time,  it  might  be  found 
that  a  serpent  had  crept  into  the  Eden  of  his  inno- 
cence. Boys  do  not  fully  know  what  is  good  and  what 
is  evil;  they  do  wrong  things  at  first  almost  innocently. 
Novelty  hides  vice  from  them ;  there  is  no  one  to 
warn  them  or  give  them  rules;  and  they  become  slaves 
of  sin  while  they  are  learning  what  sin  is. " 

Is  not  this  a  most  pathetic  confession  of  a  great 
shortcoming  of  the  Protestant  system  which  renounces 
all  inward  government  and  direction  of  the  soul  ?  It 
leaves  all  to  the  private  judgment  of  the  individual. 
And  yet,  what  a  blessing  for  young  people  to  have  one 
to  whom  they  can  securely  disclose  "their  secret 
thoughts."  Then  this  friend  of  their  souls  can  "warn 
them  and  give  them  rules."  The  evil  will  be  dis- 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPE.  557 

covered  and  counteracted  before  the  young  are  slaves 
of  sin.  The  Catholic  youth  has  all  this  advantage  in 
the  confession.  What  could  an  Arnold,  a  Thring, 
a  McCosh  do  here?  Indeed,  does  not  this  reserve  of 
the  Protestant  system  frustrate  in  many  educators 
talent,  zeal,  kindliness,  and  keen-eyed  affection,  of 
their  best  fruits  ? 

On  the  educational  influence  of  the  reception  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  a  beautiful  passage  is  found  in  the 
diary  of  the  first  American  Cardinal,  Archbishop  Mc- 
Closkey  of  New  York,  written  when  sojourning  in 
Rome  as  a  young  priest.  u  Feast  of  St.  Aloysius, 
Rome,  June  21,  1835.  This  is  the  peculiar  festivity  of 
the  students  of  Rome.  It  is  observed  with  the  greatest 
solemnity  at  the  Church  of  the  Roman  College,  S. 
Ignazio  [under  the  care  of  the  Jesuits].  Nearly  all 
the  students  of  the  college,  amounting  to  the  number 
of  1500,  receive  Holy  Communion  together  on  this 
day.  Being  anxious  to  witness  so  interesting  and 
edifying  a  spectacle,  I  took  care  to  be  at  the  Church 
of  S.  Ignazio  at  a  seasonable  hour.  When  I  arrived, 
the  students  had  just  entered  and  had  taken  their 
places  in  ranks  forming  an  aisle  in  the  middle,  and 
extending  from  the  altar  along  the  nave  of  the  church 
to  the  very  door.  The  Community  Mass,  a  low  one, 
was  celebrated  by  a  Cardinal,  and  the  choir  was  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  choice  singers  among  the 
pupils.  It  may  have  been  owing  to  the  numberless 
youthful  associations  that  were  connected  with  the 
scene  before  me,  but  I  must  confess  it  was  to  me  the 
most  edifying  and  most  affecting  ceremony  I  have  yet 
witnessed  in  Rome.  It  was  one  which  I  shall  never 
forget.  To  behold  that  spacious  and  beautiful  edifice 


558  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

almost  exclusively  occupied  by  such  a  number  of 
students  of  every  rank  and  almost  every  age,  arranged 
in  such  beautiful  order,  their  countenances  bespeaking 
a  deep  sense  of  the  act  they  were  about  to  perform  in 
receiving  into  their  bosoms  their  Divine  lyord  and 
Saviour,  and  to  hear,  at  the  same  time,  the  solemn 
strains  of  music  which  filled  the  place  with  pious 
harmony,  was  certainly  enough  to  fill  a  far  less  sensi- 
tive breast  with  holy  enthusiasm.  The  moment  of 
Communion  arrived.  It  was  a  moment  in  which  I  felt 
the  holiness  and  sublimity  of  my  religion  with  a  pecu- 
liar force.  Fifteen  hundred  young  men  and  boys 
approached  the  table  of  their  Divine  Master  with  a 
modesty  and  a  fervor  most  marked  and  sincere,  and, 
it  is  to  be  supposed,  with  a  corresponding  purity  of 
mind  and  heart,  all  of  them  in  the  heyday  of  life,  arid 
most  of  that  age,  and  in  those  exterior  circumstances, 
which  lead  the  youth,  particularly  of  Protestant  col- 
leges, to  the  most  dangerous  vices.  This,  assuredly, 
I  thought  was  a  triumphant  evidence  of  the  superior 
moral  influence  of  the  Catholic  religion.  Call  it 
Jesuitism,  call  it  priestcraft,  call  it  what  you  please, 
no  candid  mind  contemplating  such  a  spectacle  can 
deny  that  as  edifying  a  one  has  never  been,  and  never 
will  be,  presented  by  the  same  number,  nor  one  tenth 
of  the  number,  of  Protestant  youth  in  any  part  of  the 
world."1 

Besides  these  two  principal  means  employed  for  the 
religious  and  moral  training  of  youth,  there  are  others 
which  are  used  with  the  most  salutary  results.  Among 
them  are  certain  devotions  recommended  to,  and  en- 

1  Historical  Records  and  Studies,  vol.  II,  part  I:  "Car- 
dinal McCloskey,"  by  Archbishop  Farley. 


THE:  MORAiv  SCOPE.  559 

couraged  among,  the  students.  Non-Catholics  do  not 
view  the  Catholic  devotions  very  favorably,  but  their 
antipathy  springs,  for  the  most  part,  from  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  true  nature  of  these  devotions.  Prot- 
estants think  that  Catholics  consider  these  practices 
as  the  essence  of  religion;  further,  they  have  the 
opinion  that  these  devotions  are  merely  mechanical 
recitations  of  certain  set  prayers.  In  this  they  are 
seriously  mistaken. l  To  the  Catholic  the  religious 
devotions  are  not  the  essence  of  religion,  but  they  are 
practical  manifestations  of  religion  and,  at  the  same 
time,  valuable  helps  to  obtain  and  strengthen  what  is 
essential  in  religion,  namely,  the  perfect  subjection  of 
the  intellect  and  will  to  the  will  of  God.  Nor  are  they 
merely  mechanical  recitations  of  prayers;  they  are,  if 
performed  according  to  the  mind  of  the  Church,  power- 
ful means  of  lifting  up  the  understanding,  the  imagi- 
nation, the  feelings  and  the  will  to  the  contemplation 
and  active  love  of  God.  They  all  contain  most  potent 
motives  for  the  moral  elevation  and  betterment  of  man. 
L,et  us  take  that  devotion  which  Jesuit  educators 
recommend  so  much  to  their  pupils :  the  devotion  to 
St.  Aloysius,  the  "L,ily  of  Gonzaga."  In  this  devo- 
tion the  picture  of  the  highest  Christian  perfection 

1  Far  worse  misrepresentations  of  Catholic  devotions  are 
due  to  gross  ignorance  of  Catholic  teaching.  Thus  we  find  in 
so  learned  a  work  as  Schmid's  Geschichte  der  Erziehung 
(vol.  Ill,  parti,  page  91)  the  assertion  that  "the  Society  of 
Jesus,  according  to  the  idea  of  its  founder,  sees  the  end  and 
object  of  all  religious  exercises  in  the  adoration  of  Mary." 
Every  Catholic  child  of  seven  years  could  have  told  the  Leip- 
sic  Professor  who  wrote  this  calumny,  that  Catholics  do  not 
adore  >  but  venerate  Mary  and  the  Saints;  nor  do  Catholics  see 
in  the  veneration  of  Mary  and  the  Saints  the  end  and  object 
of  all  religious  exercises. 


560  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

attainable  in  youth  is  placed  before  the  eyes  of  the 
students.  They  see  in  this  Saint  a  noble  youth  who, 
in  the  midst  of  wealth  and  luxury  and  the  allurements 
of  a  courtly  life,  preserved  unsullied  the  white  robe 
of  innocence ;  a  youth  who  from  early  childhood 
measured  all  things,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  secun- 
dum  rationes  aeternas,  non  secundum  rationes  temporales, 
i.  e.  according  to  the  value  which  they  possess  for  his 
final  destination ;  a  youth  who  always  followed  the 
dictates  of  conscience  with  a  chivalrous  energy  and 
steadfastness,  and  who  heroically  spurned  the  plea- 
sures that  prove  so  fatal  to  many  young  men ;  a  youth 
who  renounced  the  inheritance  of  a  principality  in 
order  to  follow  the  evangelical  counsels,  and  to  devote 
himself  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  service  of  his 
fellow-men.  Surely,  a  devotion  which  places  before 
the  admiring  gaze  of  students  such  a  type  of  youthful 
holiness  for  imitation,  is  a  practical  devotion,  one  that 
cannot  fail  to  elevate  the  character  of  the  students  and 
make  their  lives  purer  and  holier.  Here  we  may  also 
mention  another  most  salutary  exercise,  namely,  the 
annual  retreat  in  which,  following  the  directions  of 
St.  Ignatius,  the  end  of  man,  the  means  of  attaining 
this  end,  and  the  motives  for  striving  after  Christian 
sanctity  are  set  before  the  mind  of  the  pupil.  What 
untold  blessings  result  from  these  exercises,  only  he  is 
able  to  realize  who  has  made  them. 

Then  there  exist  in  every  Jesuit  college  the  Sodali- 
ties of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God,  pious  associations 
originated  by  the  Jesuit  Scholastic  L,eon,  and  solemnly 
recognized  and  highly  eulogized  by  many  Popes, 
beginning  from  Gregory  XIII.  (1584)  down  to  L,eo 
XIII.  It  is  worth  while  to  read  the  high  commenda- 


THE  MORAI,  SCOPE.  561 

tion  bestowed  on  them  by  the  learned  Pope  Benedict 
XIV. ,  who,  as  a  former  Jesuit  pupil  and  member  of 
the  sodality,  could  well  form  a  competent  judgment 
upon  their  value.  The  influence  of  these  sodalities 
on  the  moral  life  of  the  pupils  cannot  be  valued  too 
highly.  Their  members  are  usually  the  leaders  in 
setting  good  example  to  others.  The  decline  of  sodali- 
ties was  frequently  followed  by  a  decline  of  morality 
in  Catholic  colleges.  In  1871  the  sodalities  in  the 
thirty  higher  schools  in  Rhenish  Prussia  were  ham- 
pered by  government  interference;  it  was  said  that 
the  good  they  might  do  to  individuals,  should  be 
accomplished  by  the  schools  without  them.  A  year 
after,  in  1872,  Dr.  Falk,  Minister  of  Instruction  in 
Prussia,  ordered  the  dissolution  of  the  sodalities  in  all 
higher  schools  in  the  kingdom.  Not  eight  years  had 
elapsed  when  Dr.  Falk's  successor,  von  Puttkamer, 
on  the  2oth  day  of  May  1880,  had  to  warn  the  heads 
of  the  same  institutions  against  associations  formed  by 
the  students  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  practising 
drink,  dishonesty  and  immorality.1 

These  sodalities,  instituted  to  advance  the  students 
in  true  and  solid  piety  as  well  as  learning,  effected  in- 
estimable good.  The  members  were  exhorted  to 
cherish  above  all  that  virtue  which  is  the  most  beauti- 
ful ornament  of  youth,  purity.  They  created  a  lofty 
moral  tone  in  the  colleges  and  sustained  a  healthy, 
manly  public  opinion.  Thus  these  pious  associations 
exerted  a  most  powerful  formative  influence  on  the 
character  of  the  students.2  Their  piety,  too,  was  active 

1  Centralblattfur  die  Unterrichtsverwaltung,  1880,  p.  572. 

2  See  Coleman,  "Old   Stonyhurst"  in  Messenger,   New 
York,  1894,  p.  797  foil. 

36 


562  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

in  works  of  charity.  The  sodalists  of  early  colleges 
united  in  bands  to  purchase  articles  of  food  and 
clothing  for  distribution  among  the  poor;  they  visited 
prisoners,  and  consoled  and  instructed  them;  they 
went  to  the  hospitals  and  to  the  squalid  quarters  of 
the  city  to  look  after  the  sick.1  What  the  students 
thus  began  to  practise  in  college,  was  by  many  con- 
tinued throughout  their  lives. 

Nor  have  the  sodalities  ceased  to  achieve  the  same 
excellent  results  in  our  days.  As  a  modern  model 
sodality  we  mention  that  of  Barcelona,  consisting  of 
seven  hundred  members,  mostly  students  of  the  Uni- 
versity, or  members  of  the  professions.  Its  Academia 
encourages  excellent  literary  and  scientific  work.2 

Another  point  concerning  the  moral  training  that 
deserves  particular  mention  is  the  care  of  the  Society 
with  regard  to  reading.  The  press  is  a  mighty  instru- 
ment for  good  and  evil.  With  it  heaven  and  hell  are 
contesting  for  a  priceless  treasure  —  the  soul  of  man. 
St.  Ignatius  and  the  framers  of  the  Ratio  Studiorurn 
knew  this  full  well.  They  tell  the  teacher  to  en- 
courage good  and  wholesome  reading,  but  even  more 
earnestly  to  warn  the  students  against  dangerous 
books,  which  St.  Augustine  calls  "the  hellish  stream 
into  which  the  children  of  men  are  daily  cast. ' ' 3 
Ignatius  feared  lest  the  reading  of  classic  authors 
should  introduce  into  young  minds  pagan  tastes  and 

1  Details  may  be  read  in  the  History  of  the  Sodalities, 
Boston,    Noonan   &  Co.,    1885.  —  See    also    Rochemonteix, 
vol.  II,  p.  121  foil.,  where  the  charitable  work  of  the  Sodali- 
ties at  La  Fl&che  is  related. 

2  See  The  Pilgrim  of  our  Lady  of  Martyrs,  New  York, 
Sept.  1893  and  Jan.  1894. 

3  Confess.  I,  c.  16. 


MORAI,  SCOPE.  563 

morals.  Nor  was  his  fear  groundless  in  view  of  the 
disastrous  results  that  had  followed  the  one-sided  study 
and  admiration  of  the  classics  during  the  latter  period 
of  the  Renaissance,  when  people  not  only  imitated  the 
beautiful  style  of  the  writers  of  antiquity  but  also  their 
shocking  principles.1  About  the  year  1550  Ignatius, 
who  had  thought  long  and  'deeply  upon  this  subject, 
wrote  to  a  prelate:  "Seing  that  young  people  are  so 
disposed  to  receive  and  retain  first  impressions, 
whether  good  or  bad  .  .  .  and  considering  that  books, 
especially  classics  as  they  are  taught  to  boys,  as 
Terence,  Virgil,  and  others,  contain  amongst  many 
things  to  be  learnt,  and  not  useless  but  profitable 
rather  for  life,  some  other  things  very  profane  and 
injurious  even  if  only  heard  .  .  .  and  so  much  the 
more,  if  these  are  placed  before  them  in  books  in 
which  they  study  habitually,  having  them  in  their 
hands  —  this  considered,  it  has  seemed  to  me,  as  it 
does  still  seem,  that  it  would  be  very  expedient  if  we 
were  to  remove  from  these  classic  works  all  the  parts 
that  are  unedifying  or  noxious,  and  replace  them  by 
others  of  a  better  sort,  or,  without  adding  anything 
leave  only  what  is  profitable.  And  this  appears  to  me 
up  to  these  last  years  most  desirable  for  the  good 
Christian  life  and  good  training  of  our  youth."  2 

1  See  above  chapter  II,  ?  2 :  pp.  50 — 52  and  ch.  V  on  the 
theatrical  performances,  pp.  165 — 167.  —  Vittorino  da  Feltre 
and  other  representatives  of  the  Christian  Renaissance  dif- 
fered radically  on  this  point  from  the   Pagan   Humanists. 
Thus  Vittorino  read  certain  authors  to  his  pupils  only  with 
many  excisions.      Woodward,    Vittorino  da  Feltre,   pp.   47 
and  57. 

2  In  Stewart  Rose,  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  p.  515.  —  Obscene 
passages  are  meant.  But  substitutions  cannot  be  recommended. 


564  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  principles  of  St.  Ignatius  found  a  practical 
expression  in  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society,1  and 
later  in  various  parts  of  the  Ratio  Studiorurn.2  There 
it  is  laid  down  that  in  the  authors  given  into  the 
hands  of  the  pupils  all  dangerous  passages  should  be 
omitted,  or  if  certain  authors,  as  Terence,  could  hardly 
be  expurgated  they  ought  rather  not  to  be  read  at  all. 
Many  modern  educators  or  writers  on  education  con- 
sider this  anxiety  of  the  Jesuits  mere  prudery.  Others 
who  have  studied  the  question  more  thoroughly  and 
conscientiously,  admit  that  many  reasons  can  be  given 
for  the  practice  of  the  Jesuits.  Others  again  declare 
themselves  unable  to  speak  decisively  on  this  "per- 
plexing" question.  Thus  a  writer  in  the  St.  James's 
Gazette j  after  having  mentioned  the  "castrated  edi- 
tions of  the  classics"  used  in  the  Jesuit  college  at 
Stonyhurst,  England,  says:  "Our  public  schools  go 
upon  another  principle  ;  the  argument  being  that  the 
shock  of  introduction  on  entering  the  world,  to  what 
has  been  so  zealously  excluded  would  only  lead  to  a 
sudden  and  fatal  downfall.  For  my  part  I  find  the 
question  a  perplexing  one."  3 

To  those  who  see  in  the  caution  of  the  Society 
nothing  but  prudery,  we  may  reply  that  even  pagan 
writers,  and  those  of  the  very  highest  standing,  as 
Plato,  Aristotle,  Cicero  and  Quintilian,  denounced 
emphatically  the  reading  of  certain  authors  of  their 
own  language  and  race.  Quintilian  well  said:  "As 
regards  reading,  great  care  is  to  be  taken,  above  all 
things,  that  tender  minds,  which  will  imbibe  deeply 

1  Constit.  P.  IV,  c.  5.     Decl.  E. 

2  Reg.  Prov.  34.  —  Reg.  com.  8. 

8    I,ittell's  Living  Age,  vol.  CLXX  (1886),  p.  248. 


THK  MORAL  SCOPE.  565 

whatever  has  entered  them  when  they  are  ignorant 
of  everything  and,  as  it  were,  resemble  empty  vessels, 
may  learn  not  only  what  is  well  written,  but,  still 
more,  what  is  morally  good.  The  reading  of  tragedies 
is  beneficial,  the  lyric  poets  nourish  the  mind,  pro- 
vided that  you  select  from  them,  not  merely  authors, 
but  portions  of  their  works;  for  the  Greeks  are  licen- 
tious in  many  of  their  writings,  and  I  should  be  loath 
to  interpret  Horace  in  certain  passages."  1  And  even 
Ovid,  that  licentious  writer,  warns  his  readers  if  they 
want  to  be  free  from  the  consequences  of  disorderly 
passion,  not  to  read,  nay,  not  to  touch  frivolous 
poetry:  Teneros  ne  tange  poetas,  and  he  includes  in  this 
class  some  of  his  own  works.  The  language  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church  is  unmistakable  on  this  sub- 
ject. In  fact,  the  terms  of  condemnation  used  by  some 
Fathers  against  pagan  writings,  are  actually  directed 
against  the  idolatry  and  immorality  contained  therein. 
It  would  be  useless  to  multiply  quotations. 

There  are  modern  educators,  also  Protestants,  who 
on  this  point  are  at  one  with  the  Society.  Thus  writes 
Quick:  "It  is  much  to  the  credit  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
that,  though  Plautus  and  Terence  were  considered 
very  valuable  for  giving  a  knowledge  of  colloquial 
Latin  and  were  studied  and  learned  by  heart  in  the 
Protestant  schools,  the  Jesuits  rejected  them  on 
account  of  their  impurity. ' ' 2  Later  on  expurgated 
editions  of  Plautus,  Terence,  Horace,  Juvenal,  Per- 
sius  and  others  were  published  by  Jesuits,  especi- 
ally by  Father  Jouvaiicy.  The  words  of  Professor 

1  Inst.  I,  c.  8. 

2  Educational  Reformers,  p.  507.  —  See  also  vou  Rau- 
iner's  statements  above  p.  166. 


566  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Paul  Barth  of  Leipsic,  written  a  year  ago,  are  also 
well  worth  being  summarized  here.1  ''One  of  the 
truest  sayings  of  Goethe  is:  'Let  no  one  imagine  that 
the  first  impressions  of  youth  can  be  effaced. '  There 
are  striking  examples  recorded  in  history  how  per- 
verse reading  in  early  years  caused  the  greatest  harm. 
Of  course  there  will  be  wise  people,  even  educators, 
who  say:  'It  is  true,  there  are  some  offensive  passages 
in  this  work,  but  their  effect  is  counteracted  by  other 
instruction.  Don't  let  us  be  pedantic.  Don't  let  us 
make  so  much  noise  about  such  trifles. '  These  gentle- 
men must  be  answered  that  in  education  there  are  no 
trifles;  that  nothing  is  so  little  that  it  may  be  over- 
looked. For  every  trifle  has  an  influence  on  many, 
very  many  souls  of  children,  and  in  every  one  of  these 
souls  it  can  work  its  effect  for  a  long  time,  perhaps  for 
a  whole  life.  Others,  advocates  of  a  'sound  realism,' 
as  they  style  themselves,  will  say:  'Evil  is  after  all  a 
component  part  of  this  world,  and  so  it  is  beneficial  to 
free  the  young  of  the  illusion  that  there  is  no  evil  in 
the  world. '  To  this  we  reply:  Belief  in  the  moral  order 
in  this  world  is  an  energizing  factor  in  the  life  of  the 
young,  and  the  man  who  robs  the  child  of  this  belief, 
weakens  its  moral  energy,  consequently  does  an  im- 
moral act.  Others  again,  granting  all  this,  will  say: 
'Although  there  is  some  danger  in  such  reading,  still 
it  gives  an  insight  into  the  life  and  the  history  of  the 
nations.'  Such  historians  we  answer:  The  history  of 

1  Neue  Jahrbucher,  1901,  vol.  VIII,  pp."  57— 59.  —  See 
also  Schiller,  Handbuch  der  praktisclien  Padagogik,  1894, 
p.  172,  where  it  is  said  that  some  satires  of  Horace  and  some 
passages  in  Homer  should  be  left  out  in  the  school  editions. 
The  same  author's  opinion  about  the  use  of  unabridged  Bibles 
in  schools  will  be  quoted  in  the  next  chapter. 


THK  MORAL  SCOPE.  567 

civilization  can  be  learned  in  other  ways ;  at  any  rate, 
it  is  too  dearly  bought  if  it  ruins  the  character  of 
children. " 

That  no  prudishness  is  advocated  by  our  remarks 
on  reading  the  classics,  is  sufficiently  proved  from 
what  has  been  said  on  Homer.1  Nor  do  we  deny  that 
some  editors  of  school- texts,  as  well  as  teachers,  may 
not  have  gone  too  far  in  expurgating.  Here,  as  in 
other  matters,  the  golden  rule  is:  Medio  tutissimus  ibis. 
It  will  always  remain  a  delicate  and  difficult  question 
to  decide  what  is  to  be  omitted  or  what  may  be  read 
without  danger.  The  tact  of  the  teacher  and  skill  in 
handling  such  passages  will  often  give  the  proper 
solution.  But  about  the  correctness  of  the  general 
principle  laid  down  in  the  Ratio  Studiorum  there  can 
be  no  doubt. 

The  same  principle  holds  good  not  only  of  the 
classical  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome,  but  of  the 
moderns  as  well,  if  not  in  a  higher  degree. 2  The 
ancients  are  direct,  outspoken  and  straightforward, 
even  in  their  obscenity;  the  moderns  are  more  indirect 
and  insinuating.  The  latter  method  is  not  the  more 
harmless  as  might  appear  to  the  superficial,  but  is  by 
far  the  more  dangerous,  since  it  stimulates  curiosity, 
sets  the  mind  thinking  and  leaves  the  reader  to  reflect 
and  dwell  on  an  unsavory  and  prurient  subject.  The 
Jesuit  teachers  are  exhorted  not  only  "not  to  read  in 
class  any  obscene  author  or  any  book  which  contains 
matter  dangerous  to  good  morals,  but  also  to  deter 
most  energetically  their  pupils  from  reading  such 

1  See  above  pp.  399—400. 

2  The  Rules  of  the  Provincial  34,  §  2,  say :  "Still  greater 
caution  is  needed  in  regard  to  the  vernacular  authors. " 


568  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

books  outside  of  class."  l  This  advice  about  deterring 
pupils  from  bad  reading,  is  far  more  necessary  now-a- 
days  than  at  the  time  when  the  Ratio  was  drawn  up. 
How  many  popular  books  and  magazines,  openly,  or 
secretly  under  the  name  of  ''modern  science,"  are  ad- 
vocating principles  which  in  reality  are  agnostic  and 
irreligious?  How  many  of  the  novels  that  flood  the 
literary  market,  are  filled  with  ill-disguised  nasti- 
ness?  How  many  books  are  borrowed  by  the  young 
people  from  libraries,  which  should  never  be  permitted 
to  fall  into  their  hands?  God  alone  knows  all  the 
harm  done  to  faith  and  purity  by  these  books.  For 
many  a  talented  youth,  the  pride  and  joy  of  a  happy 
home,  the  indulging  in  filthy  novels  has  been  the 
beginning  of  a  career  of  sin  and  crime. 

As  a  rule  it  is  not  advisable  to  say  this  or  that  book 
is  bad  or  indecent;  for  some  boys,  either  through 
viciousness  or  curiosity,  will  for  that  very  reason  read 
the  book.  But  should  an  evil  publication  circulate 
among  the  boys,  then  it  should  be  denounced  in  the 
strongest  terms. 

Boys  should  be  likewise  cautioned  against  over- 
indulgence in  the  reading  of  newspapers,  especially  of 
the  sensational  kind.  There  is  no  worse  school  for 
the  mind  than  such  papers.  They  not  unfrequently 
swarm  with  infamous  advertisements;  scandalous 
happenings,  whose  very  possibility  ought  to  be  un- 
known to  young  people,  are  there  discussed  in  a 
frivolous  manner  and  with  the  omission  of  not  a  single 
disgusting  detail.  If  these  newspapers  form  the  daily 
mental  food  of  a  boy,  they  will  dull  and  blunt  all 
sense  of  delicacy  and  modesty,  and  disable  his  mind 

1    Reg.  com.  8. 


THE  MORAL  SCOPK.  569 

for  serious  application  to  hard  study.  In  his  "Book 
of  the  Spiritual  Exercises,"  St.  Ignatius  pictures  the 
inveterate  enemy  of  mankind  seated  on  a  throne  on 
the  plains  of  Babylon,  despatching  innumerable  demons 
all  over  the  world,  to  every  city  and  every  person  in 
order  to  ensnare  and  deceive  men.  This  wily  fiend 
has  undergone  a  marvellous  metamorphosis.  He 
makes  use  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  adapting  him- 
self to  new  circumstances.  He  is  no  longer  the  horned 
and  hoofed  monster  of  olden  legends,  but  a  polished, 
well-read  gentleman,  who  manages  thousands  of 
printing  establishments.  And  every  mail  carries 
countless  demons,  in  the  shape  of  bad  novels,  maga- 
zines and  papers,  to  every  city,  every  town,  every 
village,  every  dwelling,  no  matter  how  secluded  or 
remote.  Shall  we  expect  these  envoys  of  Satan, 
"transformed  into  angels  of  light,"  to  overlook  our 
schools  and  colleges?  Alas,  how  often  do  they  sneak 
in,  unnoticed  by  porter  or  janitor,  to  work  their  deeds 
of  darkness  among  the  young.  Naught  but  the  ut- 
most vigilance  on  the  part  of  school  authorities  will  be 
able  to  counteract  these  evils.  Certainly  the  principle 
of  St.  Ignatius  and  the  Ratio  Studiorum  need  not  be 
further  vindicated.1 

We  must  make  some  remarks  about  sports,  which 
take  so  important  a  part  in  our  modern  schools.  We 
do  this  in  connection  with  moral  education  for  various 
reasons.  First,  because  a  moderate  use  of  athletics 
helps  to  develop  certain  moral  qualities.  Secondly, 
because  some  moderns  see  in  it  a  remedy  for  nearly  all 

1  On  reading  see  also  Sacchini :  On  Dangerous  Reading 
(In  Latin);  a  new  translation  in  Herder's  Bibliothek  der 
katholischen  Padagogik,  vol.  X,  pp.  186 — 205.  —  Jungmann, 
S.  J.:  Gefahren  der  belletristischen  Lecture. 


570  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

vicious  habits  of  youth.  They  rejoice  that  "muscular 
Christianity,"  "a  sound,  practical,  sensible,  worldly 
basis  of  life  has  taken  the  place  of  the  morbid  asceti- 
cism and  unreal  superstitions  and  transcendentalism 
of  former  generations,  which  considered  the  flesh  a 
burden,  a  clog,  a  snare."  l  —  Thirdly,  because  excess 
in  athletics  leads  to  serious  damage,  moral  as  well  as 
intellectual. 

The  physical  culture  of  the  pupils  forms  a  most 
important  feature  in  a  good  system  of  education:  sit 
mens  sana  in  corpore  sano.  Athletics,  out-door  sports 
and  gymnastics  do  much  for  the  physical  health  of 
the  students.  Besides,  they  demand,  and  consequently 
help  to  develop,  quickness  of  apprehension,  steadiness 
and  coolness,  self-reliance,  self-control,  readiness  to 
subordinate  individual  impulses  to  a  command.  This 
is  all  valuable  for  education.  Still,  "in  the  reaction 
from  the  asceticism  of  our  early  college  life  there  is 
little  doubt  our  athletics  have  gone  too  far;  so  far  as 
to  direct  in  a  noticeable  degree  the  student's  attention 
from  his  studies."  2  Indeed,  it  has  come  to  pass  that 
among  students  base-ball,  foot-ball,  boat-races  and 
other  sports  form  almost  the  exclusive  topic  of  con- 
versation. The  favorite  reading  is  the  sporting  sheet 
of  the  newspaper.  Some  college  periodicals  give 
almost  more  space  to  athletics  than  to  literature. 
<4Pray,"  said  an  Oxford  Don  to  President  McCosh, 
after  reading  several  numbers  of  the  Princetonian, 
"are  you  the  president  of  a  gymnastic  institution?"  3 

1  See  General  Walker's  address  in  Report  of  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  1896—97,  I,  p.  705  foil. 

2  Prof.  West  of  Princeton  University,  in  Education  in 
the  United  States,  vol.  I,  p.  222. 

3  Life  of  James  McCosh,  p.  208.     See  also  p.  223  foil. 


THE)  MORAI,  SCOPK.  571 

The  dangers  arise  not  so  much  from  athletic  exercises 
themselves,  as  from  their  publicity  and  the  universal 
admiration  in  which  they  are  held.  There  is  in  our 
days  a  morbid  craving  for  notoriety;  people  wish  to 
be  interviewed,  to  be  talked  about,  to  be  kept  before 
the  eyes  of  the  public.  Many  a  young  man  thinks  he 
cannot  realize  this  ambition  better  than  by  athletic 
triumphs.  Thus  by  competitive  games  much  time 
and  talent  is  wasted,  much  enthusiasm  for  higher 
aspirations  is  stifled.  Unfortunately,  some  colleges, 
instead  of  checking  this  spirit  have  catered  to  it.  No 
wonder  that  boys  have  changed  their  views  of  the 
ideal  student.  Their  ideals  are  on  the  campus,  no 
longer  in  the  domain  of  literature  and  science.  The 
hero  to  whom  they  look  up  with  admiration  is  not  the 
leading  boy  in  the  class,  not  the  one  who  at  the  end 
of  the  year  carries  off  the  honors,  but  the  one  "who 
breaks  the  world's  record"  in  some  athletic  contest. 
Many  prefer  the  approving  shout  of  thousands  of 
spectators  on  the  foot  ball  field  to  the  earning  of  class 
honor.  Indeed  brain  is  no  longer  the  highest  human 
gift  in  the  eyes  of  a  great  number  of  students,  but 
muscles  and  muscular  achievements.  And  a  writer  in 
a  periodical  for  September  1901,  boasted  that  "we  are 
fast  becoming  a  nation  of  athletes. ' '  The  best  educa- 
tors are  unanimous  in  condemning  this  excessive 
spirit  of  athleticism.  They  foresee  the  serious  dangers 
that  spring  from  it,  to  intellectual  and  moral  culture.1 

1  On  this  keenly  discussed  question  see :  Findlay,  Arnold 
of  Rugby,  with  an  Introduction  by  the  Right  Reverend  Lord 
Bishop  of  Hereford.  (1897),  pp.  23  and  24.  —  Fitch,  Thomas 
and  Matthew  Arnold,  pp.  103—108.  There  it  is  stated  that 
exaltation  of  physical  powers  to  the  same  level  as  intellectual 
distinction  has  in  late  years  seriously  debased  the  ideal  and 


572  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  Jesuits  have  never  neglected  the  care  of  the 
health  of  their  pupils.1  Long  ago  they  had  introduced 
various  games  into  their  colleges  and  did  much  to 
interest  all  the  pupils  in  them.  This  is  mentioned  as 
a  laudable  feature  of  their  educational  system  even  by 
men  who  wrote  in  a  hostile  spirit  against  the  Society.2 
The  Jesuits  recognized  the  importance  of  games  at  a 
period  when  they  were  little  esteemed  by  others. 
"The  schools  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies are  in  general  noted  for  their  gloomy  neglect  of 

hindered  the  usefulness  of  the  great  public  schools  in  Bug- 
land.  "For  the  moment  the  type  of  school-boy  and  of  man- 
hood most  in  favor  with  the  British  public  is  Spartan  rather 
than  Athenian."  Mr.  Fitch  states  also  that  the  famous 
romance  of  Thomas  Hughes,  Tom  Browtfs  School-days,  gives 
only  one  side  and  that  not  the  best  side  of  Rugby  school 
life.  —  Some  excellent  remarks  on  athletics  in  college  are 
made  by  Mr.  Canfield  in  his  book  The  College  Student  and 
his  Problems,  pp.  103 — 105.  A  very  severe  criticism  of  the 
excessive  admiration  of  sport  among  the  Knglish  public  is 
contained  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  Jan.  1902.  —  See  also 
Nineteenth  Century,  Jan.  1903,  p.  46. 

1  A  document  in  Spanish,  drawn  up  in  the  first  years  of 
the   Society,    contains   a   most   interesting   chapter   entitled 
"The  Preservation  of  Bodily   Health    and    Strength. "      In 
seventeen  paragraphs  it  lays  down  rules  about  moderation  in 
studies,  about  food,  clothing,  sleep,  proper  bodily  exercises, 
and    sufficient    recreation.      Although    this    document    was 
primarily  written  for  the  younger  members  of  the  Order,  its 
principles  were  applied,  as  appears  from  other  passages,  to 
the  pupils  of  the  colleges,  of  course  with  necessary  changes. 
See  Monumenta  Paedagogica,  p.  68  sq.     "Para  Conservar  la 
Salud y  Fuerzas  del  Cuerpo." 

2  For  instance  in  the  Recollections  of  a  Jesuit  Pupil 
(written  by  an  apostate  priest  who  had   studied   in  Jesuit 
colleges),    p.    104   foil.      Bode:    Aus  dem  Kloster,   vol.   II, 
p.  174  foil,  quoted  by  Hubzr,Jesmten-Ordent  p.  370  foil. 


THK  MORAI,  SCOPE.  573 

this  cheerful  element  in  the  education  of  youth.  The 
schools  of  the  Jesuits  were,  in  this  respect,  conducted 
on  more  reasonable  principles  than  most  of  the  rest."  l 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  Germany  sport  in  the 
higher  schools,  is,  or  was,  until  recently,  neglected 
more  than  is  expedient  for  the  general  development  of 
the  pupils.  And  yet,  wherever  German  Jesuits 
opened  a  college,  be  it  in  Freiburg  (Switzerland), 
Feldkirch  ( Vorarlberg) ,  or  Sao  L,eopoldo  (Brazil), 
everywhere  they  introduced  and  encouraged  plenty  of 
healthful  games,  an  evident  sign  that  it  is  the  spirit 
of  the  Society  to  give  the  pupils  sufficient  recreation. 
Of  the  French  Jesuits,  the  Figaro  wrote  years  ago 
(June  2,  1879):  '  'Games  and  amusements  occupy  an 
important  place  in  the  schools  of  the  Jesuits.  They 
are  as  much  interested  about  the  place  of  recreation  as 
about  the  study  hall.  The  prefects  induce  the  pupils 
to  join  in  the  games  with  the  same  ardor  they  display 
in  stimulating  them  to  work  at  their  books.  Two 
prefects,  Fathers  de  Nodaillac  and  Rousseau,  have 
written  the  history  of  games.  .  .  .  Fencing  is  honored 
and  encouraged  in  the  Jesuit  schools.  In  the  three 
institutions  at  Paris  {rue  de  Madrid,  de  Vaugirard  and 
des  Pastes)  more  than  four  hundred  pupils  take  lessons 
in  fencing  under  the  direction  of  the  best  instruc- 
tors." 2  It  is  not  necessary  to  prove  that  in  English 
speaking  countries  the  Jesuit  colleges  do  not  neglect 
this  part  of  training. 

1  Kiddle  and  Schem,  The  Cyclopaedia  of  Education ,  ar- 
ticle < 'Games, "  p.  330. 

2  De    Badts   de   Cugnac,    Les  Jesuites  et  ^education, 
pp.  25—31. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Religious  Instruction. 

The  preceding  chapter  has  shown  how  painstaking 
the  Jesuits  are  as  regards  the  moral  training  of  their 
pupils.  Other  educators  also  insist  on  the  necessity 
of  this  training,  but  the  Jesuits,  in  fact  all  Catholics, 
differ  from  a  great  number  of  other  educators  in  a  most 
essential  point,  namely  in  that  they  base  the  moral 
training  entirely  on  the  religious  education.  They 
consider  a  moral  training  without  the  religious  as 
defective  and  incomplete.  Incomplete,  because  it  dis- 
regards one  of  the  most  important  obligations  of  man. 
Man's  first  and  most  sacred  duty  is  to  acknowledge  his 
dependence  on  God,  his  Creator  and  Lord,  and  to  give 
expression  to  this  recognition  by  interior  and  exterior 
acts  of  worship.  This  is  religion.  Religion  is  a 
postulate  of  man's  rational  nature.  This  thought 
stood  clearly  before  the  mind  of  the  founder  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  when  in  his  Spiritual  Exercises  he 
wrote  down  this  brief  summary  of  religion  :  l '  Man  is 
created  to  praise  God,  to  reverence  and  serve  Him, 
and,  by  doing  so,  to  save  his  soul. ' '  No  system  of  edu- 
cation can  be  considered  as  harmonious  which  leaves 
this  first  duty  of  man  out  of  consideration,  and  fails  to 
implant  religion  into  the  hearts  of  the  pupils.  If  it  is 
man's  duty  to  worship  God,  it  is  his  duty  likewise  to 
know  God ;  he  can  know  Him  from  the  manifestation 
of  His  works  (Romans  i,  19),  and  the  revelation  of 
His  word.  Religion  does  not  consist  in  mere  senti- 

(574) 


R3UGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  575 

ment  and  pious  emotions,  but  in  the  recognition  of 
certain  truths  and  the  subjection  of  the  will  to  these 
truths.  Hence  no  religion  is  possible  without  the 
knowledge  of  these  truths,  or  let  us  plainly  call  them 
what  they  are  :  dogmas,  although  this  word  is  so  hate- 
ful to  the  ear  of  the  rationalist  and  agnostic  educator 
of  the  day.  Dogmas  must  be  taught  and  believed  as 
the  foundation  of  all  true  religion,  as  the  Great  Teacher 
of  mankind  has  said:  "This  is  life  everlasting  that 
they  may  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."1  It  is,  indeed,  the 
highest  wisdom  "to  know  Christ  and  him  crucified," 
"in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge."2  Christ,  therefore,  must  be  the  centre 
of  all  true  education. 

The  knowledge  of  religious  truths  is  necessary  in 
education  for  another  reason,  because  it  is  the  onl}r 
sure  foundation  of  morality,  and  without  it  no  true 
moral  education  is  possible.  This  is  the  firm  convic- 
tion of  Christian  thinkers.  I  know  the  champions  of 
the  "unsectarian"  schools  cry  out  against  such  an 
assertion,  and  they  ask  indignantly:  "Can  we  not 
teach  ethics  without  dogmas,  moral  principles  without 
religion?"  Reason,  history,  daily  experience,  and  our 
innermost  conscience  give  a  stern  and  emphatic  an- 
swer to  this  question  :  '  'You  cannot  teach  it  effectively 
and  with  any  satisfactory  result."  All  motives  of 
self-respect,  honor,  sense  of  duty,  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity, etc.,  may  deter  a  man  from  certain  more 
revolting  crimes,  but  they  will  not  hold  in  times  of 
fierce  temptation,  when  neither  disgrace  nor  civil 

1  John  17,  3. 

2  1  Cor.  2,  2 ;  and  Col.  2,  3. 


576  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

punishment  is  to  be  feared.  How  well  has  the 
" Father  of  this  Country "  expressed  this,  when  he  left 
to  his  people  as  a  sacred  legacy  these  weighty  words  : 
"L,et  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition  that 
morality  can  be  maintained  without  religion.  What- 
ever may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined 
education  on  minds  of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and 
experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national 
morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious  prin- 
ciple." Another  great  military  and  political  leader 
has  spoken  even  more  strongly  on  this  subject.  L,ord 
Mahon  writes  of  a  conversation  which  he  had  with 
the  great  Duke  of  Wellington:  "I  shall  never  forget 
the  earnestness  and  energy  of  manner  with  which  he 
[the  Duke  of  Wellington]  deprecated  mere  secular 
education,  adding,  /  doubt  if  the  devil  himself  could 
advise  a  worse  scheme  of  social  destruction."  .  .  .  ''Take 
care  what  you  are  about,"  he  exclaimed  on  Decem- 
ber 23,  1840,  when  speaking  of  the  new  Education 
Act;  "for  unless  you  base  all  this  education  on  re- 
ligion, you  are  only  bringing  up  so  many  clever 
devils. "  1  The  educational  legislation  of  the  year  1902 
proves  that  England,  after  many  decades  of  experi- 
menting, has  at  length  realized  the  truth  of  the  warn- 
ing of  her  distinguished  leader. 

Alas,  that  the  most  important  words  of  Washington 
have  been  practically  forgotten  in  this  country,  and 
that  the  exclusion  of  religious  teaching  from  the  schools 
has  been  made  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  national  system  of  schools,  in  such  a  degree  that 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  all  along  has  insisted  that 

1  Lord  Stanhope's  Conversations  with  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington, London,  1888,  p.  180. 


RKIJGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  577 

it  was  its  duty  to  educate  the  children  of  Catholic 
parents  in  the  truths  of  their  religion,  was  denounced 
as  an  enemy  of  the  country.  At  present  the  more 
thoughtful  Protestants  begin  to  acknowledge  that  this 
idea  is  the  only  true  one.  The  spread  of  immorality 
and  infidelity  has  opened  the  eyes  of  many. 1 

We  may  be  allowed  to  quote  one  or  other  recent 
utterance  of  non-Catholics  on  this  subject.  Professor 
Gates,  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  writes  in 
the  Biblical  World,  September  1902:  "The  great 
problem  of  life  is  education.  The  mind  of  the  race  is 
growing  all  the  while,  and  it  is  for  the  educator  to  see 
that  these  mental  powers  are  developed  in  the  right 
direction.  But  no  man's  education  is  complete  if 
religious  instruction  be  omitted.  One  may  know  all 
mysteries  of  science  and  literature  ;  he  may  sweep  the 
heavens  with  the  telescope,  or  peer  into  the  secrets  of 
nature  with  the  microscope ;  but  if  in  all  this  he  see 
not  God,  he  is  but  poorly  educated  after  all.  Now 
where  do  we  find  ourselves,  as  we  confront  this  phase 
of  the  national  problem  ?  We  have  a  system  of  public 
education  to  be  proud  of.  Never  have  the  various 
questions  that  meet  the  teacher  been  so  well  under- 
stood as  to-day.  But  what  is  this  great  system  doing 

1  On  this  subject  see  the  following  recent  publications : 
Father  Poland,  S.  J.,  "True  Pedagogics  and  False  Ethics," 
in  Am.  Cath.  Quart.  Review,  April  1899 ;  also  as  separate 
pamphlet.  —  Father  Campbell,  S.  J.,  "The  Only  True  Ameri- 
can School  System,"  Messenger,  November  1901,  and  the 
same  author's  article :  "Moral  Teaching  in  French  Schools," 
ib.,  May  1902.  —  Further,  Father  Conway,  S.  J.,  The  Re- 
spective Rights  and  Duties  of  Family,  State  and  Church  in 
regard  to  Education.  New  York,  Pustet,  1890,  pp.  34-60.  - 
Father  Cathrein,  S.  J.,  Religion  und  Moral,  oder  Gibt  es  eine 

Moral  ohne  Gottf    Freiburg  and  St.  Louis,  Herder,  1900. 
37 


578  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

for  the  religious  instruction  of  our  children?  Prac- 
tically nothing." 

It  has  been  said  time  and  again  that  religion  should 
be  taught  by  the  Sunday  school  and  in  the  family. 
Yet  every  thoughtful  man  must  see  that  such  instruc- 
tion cannot  be  but  insufficient.  The  Biblical  World, 
in  an  editorial,  October  1902,  asks  whether  the  relig- 
ious and  moral  education  is  adequately  achieved 
through  the  Sunday  school  and  the  home,  and  it  gives 
this  answer  :  "It  has  been  so  assumed,  but  each  pass- 
ing year  shows  more  clearly  that  this  is  not  the  case. . . 
The  home  feels  no  longer  the  necessary  responsibility, 
and  the  Sunday  school  has  neither  the  time  nor  the 
instrumentalities  for  adequate  instruction.  And,  in 
addition,  the  divorcement  of  religious  from  secular 
education  destroys  the  vital  relation  between  the  two. 
Therefore,  it  seems  certain  that  the  ideal  of  education, 
as  well  as  the  only  adequate  method  of  education,  is 
to  establish  religious  and  moral  instruction  in  the 
common  schools.  And  we  shall  then  find  ourselves 
once  more  in  accord  with  the  status  of  instruction  in 
England  and  Germany. ' ' 

A  few  years  ago,  Mr.  Amasa  Thornton  spoke  sim- 
ilarly in  the  North  American  Review.  There  he  said: 
"The  questions  which  we  have  to  solve  then  are  these: 
How  can  the  present  decline  in  religious  teaching  and 
influence  be  checked;  and  how  can  such  teaching  and 
influence  be  increased  to  such  a  point  as  will  preserve 
the  great  cities  of  the  next  century  from  depravity, 
degradation,  and  destruction?  What  can  be  expected 
of  the  family?"  Mr.  Thornton  rightly  adds:  "If  the 
adults  of  the  present  age  are  not  as  religious  as  the 
needs  of  the  hour  and  of  the  future  require,  will  the 


RKUGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  579 

children  receive  the  proper  religious  training  if  they 
receive  none  except  in  the  home  circle ?"  In  fact, 
thousands  of  children  do  not  even  learn  a  short  prayer 
at  home.  The  writer  then  declares  that  one  of  the 
greatest  blunders  that  have  been  made  in  this  country 
is  the  failure  of  teaching  religion  in  the  public  schools. 
He  then  pays  a  striking  tribute  to  the  Catholic  Church. 
4 'The  Catholic  Church  has  insisted  that  it  is  its  duty 
to  educate  the  children  of  parents  of  the  Catholic  faith 
in  such  a  way  as  to  fix  religious  truths  in  the  youthful 
mind.  For  this  it  has  been  assailed  by  the  non- 
Catholic  population,  and  Catholics  have  been  charged 
with  being  enemies  of  the  liberties  of  the  people  and 
the  flag.  Any  careful  observer  in  the  city  of  New  York 
can  see  that  the  only  people,  as  a  class,  who  are 
teaching  the  children  in  the  way  that  will  secure  the 
future  for  the  best  civilization,  are  the  Catholics;  and 
although  a  Protestant  of  the  firmest  kind,  I  believe  the 
time  has  come  to  recognize  this  fact,  and  for  us  all  to 
lay  aside  religious  prejudices  and  patriotically  meet 
this  question. M  1 

Professor  Coe  of  Northwestern  University  quite 
recently  said  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  Chicago  :  "The 
position  of  Roman  Catholics  in  regard  to  religion  and 
education,  and  their  policy  in  the  establishment  of 
parochial  schools,  are  absolutely  correct.  For  cor- 
roboration  of  this  opinion  I  refer  you  to  the  work 
Philosophy  of  Education,  by  Dr.  Arnold  Tompkins, 
principal  of  the  Chicago  Normal  School,  in  which  he 
says  religious  character  is  the  proper  end  of  all 
education. ' ' 2 

1  North  American  Review,  January  1898,  pp.  126-128. — 
See  also  the  Biblical  World,  November  1902,  p.  323. 

2  New  York  Freeman's  Journal,  January  24,  1903. 


580  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

The  Catholics  object  to  purely  secular  education, 
because  they  consider  it  subversive  of  religion  and 
true  morality,  subversive  of  "the  pillars  .of  human 
happiness  and  national  security. ' '  It  is  not  so  much 
what  is  taught  in  the  non-sectarian  schools  that  renders 
them  objectionable  to  Catholics,  as  what  is  not  taught 
and  cannot  be  taught.  An  education  which  omits 
Christ  as  its  central  and  informing  principle  is  an  un- 
christian education.  Such  an  education  may  not 
directly  teach  wrong  principles,  nor  directly  under- 
mine the  faith  of  the  pupils,  yet  it  does  nothing  to 
protect  and  strengthen  it.  The  inevitable  consequence 
of  this  neglect  must  be  the  weakening  of  faith, 
especially  in  an  age  in  which  literature  and  the  whole 
domestic  and  social  life  are  infected  by  agnosticism  and 
a  new  paganism.  As  the  non-sectarian  school  does 
not  and  cannot  counteract  these  baneful  tendencies, 
it  is  clear  that  the  education  which  it  imparts  is  a 
defective,  nay,  a  false  one. 

Not  unfrequently,  however,  Catholics  must  also 
object  to  what  is  taught  in  non-sectarian  schools  and 
colleges.  It  is  impossible  to  avoid  in  text-books  and 
oral  instruction,  in  the  teaching  of  history,  literature, 
and  natural  sciences,  all  allusions  to  questions  most 
closely  connected  with  religion.  How  does  the  Cath- 
olic Church  fare  in  such  references?  One  need  only 
examine  the  text-books  used  in  many  schools,  to 
become  convinced  that  a  Catholic  parent  must  protest 
against  the  statements  contained  therein  about  the 
Church,  its  history,  its  worship,  the  Papacy,  monastic 
orders,  etc.  But  if  Catholic  children  grow  weak  in 
their  love  of  the  Church,  her  institutions  and  prac- 
tices, they  will  gradually  neglect  their  religious 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  581 

duties,  and  fall  a  prey  to  religious  indifferentism  and 
moral  ruin.  How  well  has  this  been  expressed  in  the 
latest  "School  Order  for  the  Higher  Schools"  of 
Prussia:  "Catholic  religious  instruction  has  the 
specific  task  of  grounding  Catholic  youth  in  the  con- 
viction of  the  truth  and  the  divine  origin  of  Christian- 
ity and  the  Church,  and  to  teach  them  to  preserve, 
foster,  and  steadfastly  profess  this  conviction  by  living 
in  and  with  Christ  and  His  Church.  Only  on  the  solid 
foundation  of  a  definite  religious  knowledge,  of  deep- 
rooted  conviction  and  loyalty  to  the  Church,  can 
religious  instruction  try  and  expect  to  fulfil  that  other, 
by  no  means  last  or  least  important,  part  of  its  task, 
viz.,  to  accomplish  fully  and  permanently  the  religious 
and  the  moral  elevation  of  the  pupil.  According  to 
Catholic  teaching,  the  truly  moral  life  rests  on  obedi- 
ence to  the  Church,  as  the  divinely  attested  guardian 
and  exponent  of  God's  ordinances,  and  herein  is  found 
a  special  protection  against  the  false  and  perverse 
aspirations  of  the  modern  age,  which  endanger  the 
moral  order. ' ' 1 

For  this  reason,  what  an  English  Catholic  said 
about  the  schools  of  England  has  also  an  application 
to  our  country.  Dr.  Windle  (F.  R.  S. ),  speaking  of 
the  "Present  Needs  of  Catholic  Secondary  Educa- 
tion," said  among  other  things:  "By  the  fact  that  we 
are  Catholics,  we  are  circumscribed  in  our  choice  of 
schools  to  those  of  our  own  faith.  ...  I  should  like 
to  add  one  word  on  this  subject  from  my  own  ex- 
perience. Born  and  brought  up  a  Protestant  I  was 
educated  at  a  great  public  school,  for  which  I  still 
retain  considerable  respect,  and  even  affection;  but  I 

1    Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben,  1901,  pp.  15 — 16. 


582  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

wish  to  say  with  a  due  sense  of  responsibility,  that  the 
Catholic  parent  who  sends  his  son  to  a  non-Catholic 
public  school  deliberately  and  without  a  shadow  of 
justification  exposes  him  to  the  almost  certain  loss  of 
his  faith,  and  to  the  grave  danger  of  the  corruption  of 
his  morals. ' ' 1 

The  attitude  of  Catholics  towards  the  question  of 
religious  instruction  in  school  is,  therefore,  very  clear. 
Of  those  Protestants  that  now  advocate  religious  in- 
struction, not  a  few  commit  a  serious  mistake.  They 
recommend  a  sort  of  religious  teaching  which  will 
suit  all  and  offend  none,  an  "unsectarian,  undenomi- 
national religion,"  as  they  style  it.  Such  a  religion 
does  not  exist,  and  what  is  taught  as  such  does  not 
deserve  the  name  of  religion.  This  has  been  emphat- 
ically stated  by  many  distinguished  Protestants  of 
widely  differing  religious  opinions.  Of  American 
educators  we  mention  President  McCosh  who  made 
some  very  noteworthy  statements  on  this  subject.2 
Even  men  of  most  advanced  liberal  views  condemn 
the  teaching  of  an  "undenominational"  religion. 
Professor  Ziegler  of  the  University  of  Strassburg,  who 
is  not  in  the  least  "clerically  biased,"  wrote  two  years 
ago  in  his  General  Pedagogy:  "A  knowledge  of  the 
religion  in  which  one  is  born  forms  part  of  general 
culture,  and  the  state  would  have  to  look  after  this 
part  of  education,  as  after  all  the  rest  (sic/).  But 
here  enters  the  Church  as  competitor,  demanding  that 
the  instruction  in  religion  be  imparted  to  her  children 
according  to  her  views;  an  undenominational  instruc- 
tion in  religion,  which  is  advocated  by  some,  is  non- 

1  The  London  Tablet,  September  14,  1901. 

2  See  his  remarks  on  "Boston  Theology,"  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  Christianity  and  Positivism. 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  583 

sense;  for  every  religion  is  denominational."1  It 
would  fill  a  large  volume  were  we  to  collect  the  un- 
sparing criticism  passed  within  the  last  thirty  years 
on  "unsectarian"  religious  teaching  by  the  most  en- 
lightened men  in  England,  among  them  statesmen 
like  Disraeli  and  Lord  Salisbury. 2  An  Knglish 
agnostic,  a  member  of  the  London  School  Board,  thus 
described  the  system  adopted  by  this  Board:  "The 
result  of  unsectarian  teaching  is  to  establish  a  new 
form  of  religion  which  has  nothing  in  common  with 
Historical  Christianity  or  any  other  form  of  Christian 
teaching.  By  taking  away  everything  to  which  any 
one  objects,  they  leave  something  which  is  really 
worthless.  They  say  they  will  have  no  Creed  and  no 
Catechism,  and  the  result  is  that  every  teacher  is  his 
own  Creed  and  his  own  Catechism.  The  result  of 
unsectarian  teaching  is  a  colorless  residuum,  which  I 
should  think  would  be  as  objectionable  to  the  earnest 
Christian  as  it  is  contemptible  to  the  earnest  un- 
believer. "3  Other  English  writers  were  even  more 
severe  in  their  condemnations  of  this  system,  which 
they  called  "a  misshapen  beast,"  "a  moral  monster," 
"lifeless,  boiled  down,  mechanical,  unreal  teaching  of 
religion."4  Needless  to  say,  Catholics  will  always 
object  to  such  a  maimed  teaching  of  religion. 

Protestant  advocates  of  religious  instruction  fre- 
quently consider  the  reading  of  the  Bible  as  sufficient, 
and  as  the  only  admissible  means  of  teaching  religion 
in  the  schools.  However,  in  this  principle  there  are 
several  serious  errors.  We  must  first  mention  recent 

1  Allgemeine  Pddagogik  (Leipzig,  1901),  p.  107. 

2  Fortnightly  Review,  May  1896,  p.  808  foil. 

3  /£.,  p.  814. 

4  /£.,  p.  815. 


584  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

utterances  calling  for  the  restoration  of  the  Bible  to 
the  schools  as  literature,  as  a  means  of  literary  culture. 
The  National  Educational  Association  that  met  in 
Minneapolis  in  the  summer  of  1902,  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolution:  "It  is  apparent  that  familiarity 
with  the  English  Bible  as  a  masterpiece  of  literature 
is  rapidly  decreasing  among  the  pupils  in  our  schools. 
This  is  the  direct  result  of  a  conception  which  regards 
the  Bible  as  a  theological  book  merely,  and  thereby 
leads  to  its  exclusion  from  the  schools  of  some  states 
as  a  subject  of  reading  and  study.  We  hope  and  ask 
for  such  a  change  of  public  sentiment  in  this  regard  as 
will  permit  and  encourage  the  English  Bible,  now 
honored  by  name  in  many  school  laws  and  state  con- 
stitutions, to  be  read  and  studied  as  a  literary  work  of 
the  highest  and  purest  type,  side  by  side  with  the 
poetry  and  prose  which  it  has  inspired  and  in  large 
part  formed."  1  Such  a  study  is,  of  course,  practically 
useless  from  the  religious  point  of  view;  moreover, 
and  this  is  a  more  serious  objection  against  the 
scheme  advocated  by  the  National  Educational  As- 
sociation, it  is  wrong  in  principle  and  mischievous  in 
its  consequences.  It  is  a  deplorable  degradation  of 
the  sacred  volume  to  put  it  on  a  par  with  profane 
writings,  be  they  of  the  highest  type,  as  the  dramas  of 
Shakespeare  or  the  poems  of  Tennyson.  This  scheme 
would  tend  to  destroy  entirely  the  reverence  due  to  the 
Bible.  Besides,  no  literary  study  is  possible  without 
explanation  of  the  contents  of  the  works  studied;  but  it 
is  absurd  to  attempt  an  explanation  of  the  contents  of 

1  The  Literary  Digest,  August  2,  1902.  —  See  also  the 
Rev.  Thomas  B.  Gregory,  in  the  New  York  American  and 
Journal,  January  11,  1903. 


REUGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  585 

the  Bible  without  trespassing  on  religious  ground. 
Rightly  has  the  Biblical  World  observed  that  culture  is 
not  the  chief  end  of  man,  nor  the  primary  function  of 
the  Bible.  The  biblical  books  are  indeed  master- 
pieces of  literature,  but  they  have  a  much  more  im- 
portant service  to  render  to  the  world.  The  Bible  is 
first  of  all  for  religious  and  moral  instruction,  a  guide- 
book to  religion  and  morality.1  We  perfectly  agree 
with  the  Biblical  World  so  far,  but  not  as  to  the 
manner  of  reading  the  Bible  which  this  review  ad- 
vocates. In  an  editorial,  October  1902,  we  read: 
1  'The  fact  that  the  Bible  is  generally  excluded  from 
the  public  schools  of  the  United  States,  where  for- 
merly it  was  used  as  a  book  of  devotion  and  instruc- 
tion, is  not  to  be  attributed  to  a  growing  disregard  of 
religion.  .  .  .  This  situation  has  been  created  by  the 
friends  of  the  Bible  rather  than  by  its  enemies;  for  if 
the  friends  of  the  Bible  could  have  agreed  among 
themselves  as  to  how  the  Bible  should  be  taught  in 
the  schools,  their  influence  would  have  secured  the 
continuance  of  such  instruction.  But  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  Bible  was  used  in  the  schools,  not  only  for 
general  and  ethical  religious  instruction,  but  also  for 
the  inculcation  of  sectarian  and  theological  ideas. 
Protestant  teachers  taught  the  Bible  in  a  way  which 
antagonized  the  Roman  Catholics;  and  teachers  of  the 
several  Protestant  denominations  interpreted  the  Bible 
to  the  children  from  their  own  point  of  view.  But  the 
public  money  which  is  raised  by  general  taxation  for 
the  support  of  the  common  schools  comes  from  men  of 
widely  differing  ecclesiastical  creeds  and  connections, 
and  cannot  therefore  be  used  for  the  dissemination  of 

1     The  Biblical  World,  October  1902,  p.  243  foil. 


586  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

sectarian  tenets."  The  writer  then  asks:  "Can  we 
now  teach  religion  and  morals  by  means  of  the  Bible 
without  at  the  same  time  teaching  sectarian  ideas? 
The  Bible  is  not  sectarian;  Roman  Catholics  and  all 
Protestant  denominations  equally  claim  it.  The  for- 
mal creeds  and  the  systems  of  government  and  wor- 
ship which  have  grown  up  in  the  centuries  of  Christian 
history  are  post-biblical;  they  are  a  superstructure, 
built  upon  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity  as  recorded 
in  the  Bible.  Can  we  get  beneath  ecclesiastical  for- 
mulations, regulations,  and  liturgies  to  a  fundamental 
religious  belief  and  moral  practice  upon  which  all 
Christians  can  agree,  and  which  they  can  unite  to 
promote?  .  .  .  We  believe  that  sectarianism  is  fast  dis- 
appearing, that  an  era  of  unity  in  essentials  is  near  at 
hand.  ...  In  order  to  restore  the  Bible  to  the  schools 
it  must  be  taught  in  the  right  way  —  the  way  which 
accords  with  the  best  modern  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
the  best  modern  science  of  religion  and  ethical  teach- 
ing, and  the  best  Christian  spirit  which  recognizes 
true  Christianity  wherever  it  exists,  and  is  able  to 
distinguish  between  essentials  and  non-essentials. ' ' l 

We  do  not  want  to  comment  on  all  the  latitudinar- 
ian  statements  contained  in  this  quotation,  but  con- 
fine ourselves  to  the  following  remarks.  First,  that 
religion  consisting  of  merely  the  "fundamentals  of 
Christianity  without  formal  creeds,"  is  no  true 
religion.  It  is  a  distillation  or  a  dilution  of  Christian- 
ity which  deserves  all  the  castigation  inflicted  by 
English  writers  on  the  "moral  monster  of  undenomi- 
national religion."  Secondly,  it  is  said  that  "the 
Bible  is  not  sectarian,  and  that  Roman  Catholics  and 

1    Ibid.,  pp.  243  and  246—247. 


REUGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  587 

all  Protestant  denominations  claim  it. ' '  But  how  do 
they  claim  it?  Surely  not  merely  as  a  source  of 
" general  and  ethical  religious  instruction,"  but  as  the 
document  which  is  supposed  to  prove  their  particular 
religious  tenets.  It  is  as  true  now  as  centuries  ago 
what  the  Reformed  theologian  Werejiiels  expressed  in 
his  famous  distich-* 

Hie  liber  est  in  quo  quaerit  sua  dogmata  quisque; 
Invenit  et pariter  dogmata  quisque  sua. 

Within  one  book  each  seeks  to  read 
The  tenets  of  his  private  creed. 
And,  strange  to  tell,  each  reads  so  well 
The  selfsame  words  all  doctrines  spell. 

Hence  it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  that  the  Bible  will 
ever  be  taught  without  "sectarian"  bias,  or  that  in 
future  it  will  be  taught  by  Protestants  without 
" antagonizing  the  Roman  Catholics." 

The  objections  of  Catholics  to  the  reading  of  the 
Bible  in  undenominational  schools  which  are  fre- 
quented by  Catholic  children,  may  briefly  be  summed 
up  as  follows:  First,  the  Catholics  must  ask  which 
translation  of  the  Bible  is  to  be  used.  Is  it  to  be  the 
Catholic  Rheims  and  Douay  version?  To  this  the 
Protestants  would  undoubtedly  object.  Then  the 
Protestant  Bible?  Against  this  the  Catholics  must 
protest.  For  the  Bible  of  King  James  contains 
numerous  errors  of  translation  —  this  was  candidly 
admitted  by  the  authors  of  the  Revised  Version  3  — 
errors  by  no  means  insignificant,  errors  which,  to  a 
great  extent,  consist  in  rendering  the  Bible  so  as  to 

1  On  this  subject  see  the  beautiful  little  book  Chapters 
of  Bible  Study,  by  the  Reverend  H.  J.  Heuser  (New  York, 
1895),  especially  chapter  XX. 


588  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

justify  certain  Protestant  tenets  and  to  antagonize 
Catholic  doctrines.  The  Revised  Version  has  done 
away  with  some  of  these  objectionable  translations, 
but  not  with  all  that  justly  offend  Catholics.  Hence 
the  very  version  used  in  the  public  schools  is  "  sec- 
tarian." Besides,  the  Catholic  acknowledges  books  as 
canonical  which  are  rejected  in  the  Protestant  Bibles 
as  apocryphal,  and  this  is  another  reason  why  the 
Catholic  cannot  approve  the  reading  of  the  Protestant 
Bible.  —  Secondly ',  the  Catholic  Church  is  opposed  to 
giving  the  complete  and  unabridged  Bible  into  the 
hands  of  children.  The  reason  for  this  attitude  is  one 
that  testifies  to  the  great  pedagogical  wisdom  of  the 
Church.  She  cannot  bear  the  thought  that  the  most 
sacred  of  books  should  become  a  stumbling-block  to 
the  innocent,  or  a  means  of  gratifying  the  unholy 
curiosity  of  vicious  youths.  There  are  earnest  Protes- 
tants who  in  this  matter  side  with  the  Catholic  prac- 
tice. It  may  suffice  to  quote  one  testimony,  that  of  a 
Protestant  educator  of  the  first  rank,  namely  of  Profes- 
sor Schiller,  Director  of  one  of  the  best  training 
schools  for  teachers  in  Europe.  Speaking  of  the 
causes  of  impurity  among  students,  he  finds  one  in 
the  reading  of  the  unabridged  Bible.  He  affirms  that 
a  large  experience  has  proved  that  most  deplorable 
vicious  habits  among  pupils,  boys  and  girls,  sprang 
up  in  the  first  place  from  the  reading  of  certain  pas- 
sages of  the  Bible,  the  selection  and  knowledge  of 
which  were  handed  down  as  a  tradition  among  the 
pupils.  This  danger,  he  adds,  can  be  so  easily 
avoided  by  preparing  special  school  Bibles  that  the 
opposite  practice  seems  unpardonable.  We  think  it 
well  to  quote  the  instructive  passage  in  the  original  in 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  589 

a  note,  adding  here  that  the  Catholic  Church  all  along 
taught  the  Bible  in  such  school  editions.1 —  There  is  a 
third  consideration  which  prompts  Catholics  to  oppose 
the  reading  of  the  Bible  as  advocated  by  most  Protes- 
tant educators.  It  is  the  following  question:  Is  the 
Bible  to  be  read  with  or  without  comment?  If  with 
comment,  is  this  Protestant  or  Catholic?  Evidently 
either  Catholic  or  Protestant  would  be  offended. 
Therefore,  without  comment  and  explanation!  Now 
this  reading  is  almost  useless,  as  the  young  will 
understand  very  little  of  the  meaning  of  the  passage. 
Disraeli,  the  English  statesman,  has  justly  ridiculed 
this  practice.  "I  cannot  imagine, "  he  says,  ' 'any- 
thing more  absurd  than  that  a  teacher  should  read 
*  without  note  and  comment,'  as  it  is  called,  a  passage 
from  the  Bible,  and  that  children  should  be  expected 
to  profit  by  it.  The  'without  note  and  comment' 
people  in  their  anxiety  to  ward  off  proselytism,  seem 
to  have  forgotten  that,  if  there  is  any  book  in  the 
world  which  demands  more  explanation  than  another, 
it  is  the  Bible.  And  so,  if  nothing  else  is  possible 

1  "Es  darf  doch  hier  auf  Grund  einer  reichen  Erfahrung 
nicht  unerwahnt  bleiben,  dass  iiamentlich  die  Bibel  in  ihrer 
urspriinglichen  Gestalt  eine  grosse  Gefahr  fur  die  Sittenrein- 
heit  der  Jugend  ist.  Es  ist  mehrfach  konstatiert  worden, 
dass  die  Onanie  (self-abuse)  in  mannlichen  und  weiblichen 
Schulen  durchaus  zunachst  sich  an  die  Lesung  von  Bibel- 
stellen  angelehnt  hat,  deren  Auswahl  und  Kenntnis  sich 
traditionell  unter  der  Jugend  fortpflanzten.  Man  kaun  dieser 
Gefahr  insofern  leicht  entgegentreten,  als  die  Herstelluug 
von  Schulbibelu  schon  so  erfolgreich  geschehen  ist,  dass 
man  nicht  begreift,  wie  man  noch  immer  die  ungekiirzte 
Bibel  den  Schulern  in  die  Hande  geben  kann."  Schiller, 
Handbuch  der  praktischen  Pddagogik  (Leipzig,  1894,  3.  ed.), 

PP.  171— m. 


590  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

than  such  a  feeble  and  useless  compromise  as  this,  I 
would,  in  the  interest  of  the  Bible  itself,  not  have  it 
read  at  all. "  And  then  he  adds:  "I  am  a  great 
believer  in  the  old-fashioned  Church-Catechism.  I 
wonder  whether  those  that  sneer  at  it,  have  always 
read  it.  I  fancy  not.  It  is,  rightly  interpreted,  a 
most  practical  document,  but  without  interpretation, 
not  worth  teaching  or  learning. "  l 

As  is  to  be  expected,  religious  instruction  in  the 
widest  and  fullest  sense  received  a  prominent  place  in 
the  educational  system  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The 
first  rule  of  the  Ratio  calls  it  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant obligations  of  the  Society  "to  teach  all  branches 
of  learning  in  such  a  manner  that  men  should  be  led 
to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  their  Creator  and 
Redeemer;"2  and  in  the  rules  of  the  Rector,  the 
Prefect  of  Studies,  and  the  teachers,  the  same  duty  is 
inculcated.  As  regards  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  the 
old  prejudice  that  the  Church  ever  set  her  face  against 
it  is  unfortunately  still  alive  among  vast  numbers  of 
non-Catholics.  For  our  purpose  it  suffices  to  remind 
the  reader  of  what  was  said  in  a  former  chapter, 
namely,  that  in  Jesuit  colleges  the  Gospels  were 
read,  in  the  higher  classes  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  in  the  original  Greek.8 

But  above  all,  the  Jesuits  were  always  "great 
believers  in  the  catechism. ' '  Catechetical  instruction 
was  prescribed  in  all  classes  once  a  week.  This  may 
seem  rather  little;  however,  it  should  be  remembered 

1  Reminiscences,    quoted    in  the    Fortnightly   Review, 
May  1896,  p.  814. 

2  Reg.  Prov.  1. 

3  See  above  pp.  121—124. 


RKlylGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  591 

that  there  were  religious  instructions  in  the  weekly 
meetings  of  the  Sodalities,  and,  which  is  still  more 
important,  that  the  whole  teaching  was  permeated  by 
a  religious  spirit.  Besides,  it  may  be  added  that  in 
many  modern  Jesuit  colleges  two  full  hours  are 
devoted  to  religious  instruction  every  week.  In  the 
lower  classes  the  catechism  is  explained,  in  the  higher 
classes  a  fuller  explanation  of  the  Catholic  dogmas 
and  a  course  of  apologetics  is  given.  Such  an  apolo- 
getical  course  was  recommended  by  the  German 
province  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  as  early  as  I82I.1 
That  in  our  age  an  apologetical  treatment  of  the 
Christian  religion  is  absolutely  necessary  need  not  be 
demonstrated.  The  words  of  the  Apostle  St.  Peter: 
"Be  ready  always  to  satisfy  every  one  that  asketh  you 
a  reason  of  that  hope  which  is  in  you,"2  had,  per- 
haps, never  before  a  more  important  bearing  than  in 
this  age  of  omnivorous  reading.  At  a  time  when  the 
literature  of  the  day  is  largely  infected  by  naturalism 
and  agnosticism,  and  when  the  principles  of  Christi- 
anity are  attacked  in  so  many  subtle  forms,  it  is  cer- 
tainly necessary  to  be  well  instructed  lest  one's  own 
faith  be  tainted  by  the  prevalent  scepticism,  and  to  be 
ready  to  defend  this  faith  against  the  attacks  made  in 
the  name  of  progress,  modern  philosophy,  and  science. 
This  readiness  can  be  obtained  only  by  a  solid  cat- 
echetical and  apologetical  training. 

Catechetical  instruction  was,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  Society,  a  special  ministry  and  a  labor  of 
love  to  the  Jesuits.  In  the  papal  approbation  of  1540 

1  "Instruct™  catechistica,  praecipue  in  Humanitate  et 
Rhetorica,    sit  ad  praeservandam  contra  modernos  errores 
juventutem  accommodata."     Pachtler,  IV,  p.  360. 

2  1  Peter  3,  15. 


592  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

it  is  said  that  the  Society  was  instituted  for  "the  prop- 
agation of  faith,  and  especially  for  the  instruction  of 
children  and  ignorant  people  in  Christian  doctrine. " 
Father  Sacchini  has  a  beautiful  chapter  on  the  "Teach- 
ing of  the  Catechism,"1  in  which  he  says  the  Jesuit 
should  teach  languages  and  grammar  with  great  dili- 
gence, but  with  far  greater  devotion  and  alacrity  cate- 
chism, "which  is  the  grammar  of  Jesus  Christ." 

An  American  prelate  wrote  recently  on  this  subject: 
"Among  religious  orders  established  with  a  special 
view  toward  the  religious  education  of  youth,  the  first 
place  must  undoubtedly  be  assigned  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  .  .  St.  Ignatius  himself  set  the  example.  The 
first  forty  days  after  the  papal  approbation  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  instruction  of  children  in  Rome.  When 
told  that  no  one  would  come  to  his  class,  he  answered: 
'If  only  one  child  comes  to  my  catechism,  it  is  enough 
of  an  audience  for  me.'  The  Society  followed  the 
example  of  its  founder  with  a  hitherto  unheard  of  zeal 
and  enthusiasm.  .  .  The  Jesuits,  moreover,  developed 
a  most  meritorious  activity  in  writing  catechetical 
works,  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  having  been 
published  during  the  first  century  of  their  existence. 
The  catechisms  composed  by  Bellarmine  and  Canisius 
soon  displaced  all  others."2  Indeed,  the  writing  of 
catechisms  has  been  one  of  the  glories  of  the  Society 
from  the  first  decades  of  its  existence.  Dr.  Knecht, 
Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Freiburg,  an  eminent  writer  on 
catechetics,  affirms  that  "the  Jesuit  Order  has  un- 

1  Paraenesis,  art.  13. 

2  Spirago's  Method  of  Christian  Doctrine.     Edited  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  S.  G.  Messmer,  Bishop  of  Green  Bay,  Wis.   (Ben- 
ziger,  N.  Y.,  1901.) 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  593 

doubtedly  produced  the  greatest  catechists. ' ' 1  The 
catechism  of  the  celebrated  Bellarmine2  was  used  in 
many  countries  for  centuries,  even  at  present  among 
Romanic  nations.  Of  great  fame  were  also  the  French, 
L,atin  and  Greek  catechisms  of  Father  Edmund  Auger. 
But  all  were  surpassed  by  that  of  Peter  Canisius,  the 
first  German  Jesuit;  this  catechism  was  used  exten- 
sively all  over  Europe.  The  works  of  this  eminent 
writer  and  founder  of  many  colleges  deserve  to  be 
treated  at  some  length. 

Catechetical  instruction  had  been  given  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Church,  and  there  existed  works 
which  guided  the  clergy  in  this  sublime  office.  The 
idea  of  placing  a  summary  of  Christian  doctrine  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  and  children,  appears  to  have  been 
first  expressed  in  a  letter  of  the  great  Gerson,  chan- 
cellor of  the  University  of  Paris  (1363 — 1429).  The 
first  known  summary  of  this  kind  was  the  one  pub- 
lished at  the  order  of  the  synod  of  Tortosa  in  Spain 
(1429).  The  first  German  catechism,  so  far  known, 
was  that  of  Dederich  Coelde,  a  Minorite  Friar  of 
Miinster  in  Westphalia,  printed  about  1470,  then 
published  in  many  editions. 3  There  existed,  besides 
this,  other  catechisms  before  the  Reformation.  Of  the 
Protestant  works  of  this  kind  L,uther's  "Great  and 

1  Kirchenlexikon,  vol.  VII,  p.  310  (2nd  ed.). 

2  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  when  still   Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Perugia,  published  a  revised  and  enlarged  edition  of  Bellar- 
mine's  Catechism.     At  the  Vatican  Council  (1869-70),  it  was 
the  wish  of  Pius  IX.  that  a  catechism,  which  should  be  essen- 
tially that  of  Bellarmine,  should  be  adopted  as  the  uniform 
and  official  catechism  for  the  whole  Catholic  world.     Mess- 
mer,  /.  c.y  p.  536. 

3  Janssen,  History  of  the  German  People,  vol.  I.    f  17th 

ed.,  p.  48  foil.  —  English  ed.,  vol.  I,  p.  45.) 
38 


594  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Small  Catechisms' '  were  undoubtedly  those  that  spread 
most  widely  and  had  the  greatest  influence.  Several 
Catholic  catechisms  came  out  shortly  after,  but  they 
were,  in  point  of  language  and  arrangement,  inferior 
to  that  of  Luther.  They  were  also  either  too  lengthy 
or  too  difficult.  The  need  of  a  new  and  better  work, 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  was  felt 
especially  in  Germany.  Then  it  was,  in  1554,  that 
Canisius  began  to  publish  his  three  catechisms.1  The 
first  was  the  large  catechism  in  I^atin  for  the  use  of 
students  in  colleges.  After  this  appeared  a  shorter 
one,  and  finally  his  small  catechism.  This  last  estab- 
lished his  fame  as  a  writer.  There  are  about  three 
hundred  different  editions  extant  which  appeared 
before  the  death  of  the  author  in  1597.  By  that  time 
the  work  had  been  translated  into  English,  French, 
Greek,  Italian,  Bohemian,  Spanish,  Polish,  Swedish, 
and  many  other  languages.  Before  1623  there  existed 
Aethiopian,  Indian,  and  Japanese  translations.  In 
Southern  Germany,  Austria,  and  Switzerland,  up  to 
the  nineteenth  century  the  name  "Canisi"  was  synon- 
ymous with  catechism. 2 

The  merits  of  this  work  can  best  be  judged  from 
the  innumerable  recommendations  which  it  received 
from  Popes  and  bishops,  and  not  less  from  the  violent 

1  See  Kirchenlexikon,  vol.  VII,  p.  302.  —  Braunsberger, 
S.  J.,   Die   Catechismen  des  Petrus   Canisius.      Herder,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  1893.—  Spirago's  Method,  pp.  532-534.  — Jansseii, 
Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes,  vol.  IV  (15th  ed.),  pp.  436 
foil.  —  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  exists  no  English  bio- 
graphy of  this  great  Catholic  reformer  and  educator.  A  sketch 
of  his  labors  was  published  recently  in  the  Dublin  Review, 
January  1903,  pp.  137—158. 

2  Janssen,  vol.  IV,  p.  445. 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  595 

attacks  made  upon  it  by  Protestants.  The  Italian 
historian  Cesare  Cantu  styles  it,  "the  most  famous 
Catholic  catechism  written  since  the  time  of  L,uther." 
Even  the  Protestant  historian  Ranke  cannot  help 
praising  and  admiring  it.  And  a  distinguished  Prot- 
estant controversialist  in  Germany,  Professor  Kawerau, 
says:  "The  catechism  of  Canisius  is  without  doubt  of 
the  same  importance  to  the  Catholic  Church  as 
L,uther's  was  to  the  Church  of  the  Reformation.  It 
is  distinguished  by  its  clear  and  lucid  treatment  of  the 
subject  and  particularly  by  the  mild  and  conciliatory 
tone  in  which  it  is  written."  l  This  "mild  and  con- 

1  Also  Chemnitz,  one  of  the  leading  Reformers  and  a 
violent  antagonist  of  Canisius,  acknowledges  that  "the  cate- 
chisms of  this  Jesuit  are  written  with  the  greatest  mildness 
and  moderation.'*  See  his  words  in  Braunsberger,  Canisii 
Epistulae  et  Ada,  vol.  Ill,  (Herder  1901)  p.  811. —In  many 
places  of  his  numerous  writings  Canisius  lays  down  his  prin- 
ciples about  controversies  with  the  Protestants.  "The  Prot- 
estants heap  the  most  frightful  calumnies  upon  me.  Would 
that  we  loved  them  the  better,  the  more  they  persecute  us. 
They  deserve  to  be  loved,  although  they  hate  us,  because 
most  of  them  err  from  ignorance.  I  would  gladly  shed  my 
blood  for  them  if  I  could  thereby  save  their  souls."  He  ex- 
horts his  brethren  and  Catholics  in  general  to  avoid  all  bitter- 
ness in  controversies ;  they  should  argue  with  gravity  and 
modesty  and  suffer  all  attacks  with  holy  patience  for  the  love 
of  Christ.  (See  Janssen,  /.  c.,  vol.  IV,  pp.  408—411.)  —This 
moderation  is  all  the  more  remarkable  if  contrasted  with  the 
shocking  insults  and  contumelious  appellations  with  which 
Canisius  was  loaded  by  his  Protestant  adversaries.  Melanch- 
thon  calls  him  a  "cynic."  Others  styled  his  catechism 
"devil's  dirt,"  the  "cursed  sacrilegious  book  of  the  dog 
Canisius,"  a  "heathenish  work,  and  a  product  of  hell."  The 
Jesuits  are  styled  by  Chemnitz  and  others  "scoundrels,  per- 
jurers, beasts,  hell-frogs  spit  up  by  the  infernal  dragon,  a 
brood  of  vipers  born  of  the  Babylonian ,"  epithets 


596  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

dilatory  tone"  was  recommended  to  all  Jesuit  teachers. 
Thus  Father  Nadal  laid  it  down  as  a  rule  for  all 
teachers  that  "both  in  the  subject  for  written  exercises 
and  in  the  explanation  of  the  catechism  they  should 
proceed  with  the  greatest  moderation.  Especially  in 
Germany,  France,  etc. ,  they  should  not  use  any  con- 
tumelious epithets  against  their  opponents;  nay  they 
should  not  even  style  them  heretics  —  although  in 
truth  they  may  be  such  — ,  but  they  should  call 
those  who  adhere  to  the  Augsburg  Confession,  Protes- 
tants, others  Anabaptists  etc.1  How,  then,  is  Mr. 
Painter  justified  in  asserting  that  the  Jesuit  system 
fostered  religious  pride  and  intolerance  ? 2 

Father  Canisius  gave  also  beautiful  instructions  as 
to  the  motives  and  methods  of  teaching  catechism. 
"We  who  are  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,"  he  writes, 
"wish  to  provide  the  little  ones  of  Christ  with  the 
salutary  milk  of  his  doctrine.  It  is  their  welfare  that 
we  love  and  seek  to  promote.  To  this  end  has  our 
Society  been  instituted,  to  instruct  j'-outh  in  piety  as 
well  as  in  learning,  as  far  as  with  the  grace  of  Christ 
we  can  accomplish. ' ' 3  One  of  the  most  essential 
qualities  of  a  good  catechist  is  kindness  of  heart  and 
manners.  This  quality  was  a  marked  feature  of 
Canisius'  character,  one  which  attracted  the  children 
to  his  instructions.  The  summary  of  the  catechetical 
lectures  which  he  gave  in  Augsburg  has  been  pre- 

which  do  not  bear  translation  here.  See  Jaussen,  /.  c.,  pp. 
411—413,  441—445. 

1  Mon.Paed.,p.U3.   Pachtler  III,  470  (no.  12),  474  (no.  6). 
Several  other  documents  inculcate  the  same  moderation  and 
spirit  of  Christian  charity.     See  Janssen,  /.  c.y  p.  411,  note  1. 

2  History  of  Education,  p.  172;  see  above  p.  252. 

3  Canisii  Epistulae  et  Ada,  vol.  Ill,  p.  777. 


REUGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  597 

served.  Canisius  began  with  the  words  of  the  Psal- 
mist: "Come  children  hearken  to  me;  I  will  teach 
you  the  fear  of  the  I^ord"  (Psalm  33,  12).  Then  he 
continued:  "Christ,  our  Lord  loved  the  children  and 
showed  his  affection  for  them  in  various  ways.  He 
blessed  and  embraced  them  and  defended  them  against 
the  Pharisees  (Matth.  21,  15.  16)  and  against  his  own 
disciples  (Matth.  18,  i-io).  He  said:  'Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me';  yea  come  to  me,  to  be  in- 
structed, and  to  be  taught  the  science  of  salvation. 
And  to  all  those  who  are  not  well  instructed  I  speak 
with  St.  Paul:  'You  have  need  to  be  taught  again 
what  are  the  first  elements  of  the  words  of  God:  And 
you  are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk  and  not  of 
strong  meat.'  (Hebr.  5,  n.  12.)  Following  the 
examples  of  the  Prophets,  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Apos- 
tles, I  shall  teach  you  not  as  wise  and  learned  ones, 
but  as  children  and  little  ones.  Come,  then,  with  a 
willing  and  cheerful  heart ;  be  convinced  that  it  is  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  importance  for  you  to  be  justly 
called  and  truly  to  be  sons  of  God.  On  your  part, 
you  must  imitate  the  Child  Jesus,  who,  in  a  manner, 
has  given  you  an  example  how  to  learn  the  doctrine 
of  salvation,  when  he  set  aside  all  else,  left  even  his 
parents,  and  remained  in  the  temple.  Watch  him 
there,  see  how  he  sits  there  quietly,  listens  to  the 
teachers,  and  asks  them  questions.  His  questions  are 
not  about  silly  and  useless  matters,  but  about  the  great 
things  of  salvation.  You  must  imitate  him  in  this, 
now  and  ever  in  the  future. ' '  This  simple  and  hearty 
manner  of  teaching  found  great  favor  with  the  people, 
and  we  are  not  surprised  to  hear  that  after  a  few  of  his 
catechetical  instructions  Canisius  could  write  :  "I  am 


598  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

delighted  at  seeing  the  good  will  of  the  people.  Even 
men,  among  them  persons  of  distinction,  set  aside  all 
other  business  and  come  to  listen  to  the  instruction  for 
children."1 

Throughout  his  life  Canisius  found  a  special  delight- 
in  giving  catechetical  instructions.  The  son  of  a  dis- 
tinguished family,  the  celebrated  Doctor  of  theology, 
and  author  of  many  learned  works,  the  founder  of  the 
famous  colleges  of  Prague,  Ingolstadt,  Munich,  Dil- 
lingen,  Innsbruck,  and  Freiburg,  the  man  whose 
advice  was  sought  by  the  Emperors  of  Germany,  by 
the  Dukes  of  Bavaria,  by  Popes  and  Cardinals,  by 
Church  Councils  and  Imperial  Diets  —  this  man  de- 
voted every  spare  minute  to  the  humble  work  of 
instructing  children,  and  that  not  only  in  the  cities 
where  he  resided,  but  on  his  many  journeys,  from  one 
end  of  Germany  to  the  other,  he  performed  the  same 
work  of  Christian  charity  among  the  simple  country 
people.  In  his  old  age,  when  worn  out  by  incessant 
toils,  this  was  his  favorite  occupation.  A  year  before 
his  death,  in  "his  seventy-eighth  year,  he  writes  that 
his  time  is  spent  in  "instructing  children  and  old 
people. " 2  A  touching  testimony  to  this  work  of  the 
saintly  Jesuit  is  still  extant  at  the  present  day.  In  a 
little  village  near  Innsbruck  (Tyrol)  is  to  be  seen,  on 
the  gable  of  an  old  house,  a  picture  which  represents 
Canisius  sitting  among  children  whom  he  is 
instructing  in  their  catechism.  It  was  before  this 
house  that,  on  his  journeys  to  Innsbruck,  he  used  to 
perform  the  work  which  the  picture  has  immortalized. 
We  have  dwelt  longer  on  the  labors  of  this  great 

1  Canisii  Epistulae  et  Acta,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  623—627. 

2  Jausseii,  vol.  IV,  p.  437. 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  599 

man,  because  they  represent  so  beautifully  what  thous- 
ands of  other  Jesuits  have  done  all  the  world  over,  in 
their  endeavors  to  spread  the  knowledge  and  love 
of  Christ. 

Many  other  Jesuits  wrote  catechisms  after  Canisius. 
But  it  will  suffice  to  mention  a  more  recent  one,  that 
of  the  German  Jesuit  Deharbe.  The  merits  of  De- 
harbe's  catechism  were  soon  recognized,  and  it  was 
introduced  into  nearly  all  dioceses  of  Germany,  and 
was  translated  into  many  languages.  It  obtained  a 
large  circulation,  especially  in  this  country.1 

In  order  to  give  a  solid  and  efficient  religious  in- 
struction, it  is  not  enough  to  teach  catechism  once  or 
twice  a  week.  The  General  of  the  Society,  Father 
Beckx,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Austrian  Minister 
of  Instruction,  July  15,  1854,  maintains  the  following: 
"  Religion  should  not  only  hold  the  first  place  among 
the  various  branches,  but  permeate  and  rule  all,  and, 
according  to  our  Ratio  Studiorum,  the  teacher  should 
treat  all  subjects  in  such  manner  that  the  truths  of  the 
catechism  are  found  in  all  branches.  Now  it  is  some 
wise  adage,  then  an  inspiring  thought,  again  a  re- 
markable incident,  or  a  beautiful  trait  of  character, 
which  gives  the  teacher  occasion  to  instruct,  to  warn, 
and  to  elevate  to  Christian  sentiments;  such  hints 
given  incidentally  and,  as  it  were,  accidentally,  often 
make  an  impression  all  the  more  vivid,  the  less  they 
were  expected.  In  this  manner  religion  is  not  a  dry 
and  disagreeable  branch,  but  vivifies  all  the  rest  of 
instruction,  gives  it  a  higher,  sacred  character,  and 

1  See  Spirago's  Method,  page  530  foil.,  where  also  the 
shortcomings  of  this  catechism  are  pointed  out. 


600  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

makes  the  pupil  not  only  more  learned  but  also  better 
and  more  virtuous. ' ' l 

The  Fathers  Jouvancy  and  Sacchini  say  that  the 
explanations  of  all  authors,  also  of  pagan  writers, 
should  be  conducted  so  that  they  become,  as  it  were, 
heralds  of  Christ.  This  is  very  important  in  our  times, 
when  pagan  ideas,  principles,  and  tendencies  are 
praised  as  the  spirit  of  the-  progressing  human  mind, 
as  the  precious  fruit  of  modern  research  and  civiliza- 
tion. From  the  study  of  the  ancients,  particularly  the 
Greeks,  the  young  may  learn  that  mankind  is  on  the 
point  of  going  again  through  a  circle  of  errors,  which 
in  a  retrogressive  movement  shall  lead  our  race  through 
all  the  aberrations  which  Christianity  has  long  ago 
overcome.  Against  the  enticing  sirens  of  ''modern 
progress,"  "freedom  of  thought,"  and  "independence 
of  morality,"  a  most  salutary  lesson  may  be  learned 
from  the  ancients,  who  in  spite  of  their  accomplish- 
ments in  art,  literature,  and  politics,  could  not  find  in 
them  the  remedy  for  social  evils,  nor  contentment  of 
mind  and  heart.  Such  suggestions,  however,  must  be 
made  discreetly,  with  great  tact  and  moderation,  when 
an  occasion  naturally  offers.  Here,  too,  the  old  ne 
quid  nimis  is  of  the  greatest  import ;  if  the  teacher  too 
often,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  indulges  in  pious 
exhortations,  the  pupils  may  easily  conceive  disgust 
at  them  and  a  loathing  for  all  kinds  of  spiritual  and 
religious  instruction.  Therefore,  the  teacher  should 
not  only  not  molest  the  pupils  by  too  frequent  admoni- 
tions, but  should  also  observe  prudence  in  those  he 
thinks  fit  to  give.2 

1  Duhr,  Studienordnung,  p.  104. 

2  Ratio  Docendi,  chapt.  I,  art.  2. 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  6oi 

The  principles  laid  down  by  the  Jesuits,  as  to  the 
religious  tone  of  all  instruction,  have  recently  been 
emphasized  by  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  in  the  Encyclical 
written  in  1897,  on  occasion  of  the  centenary  of  Peter 
Canisius.  There  we  read:  "All  schools,  from  the 
elementary  to  the  university,  should  be  thoroughly 
Catholic,  and  one  of  the  main  duties  of  the  pastors  of 
the  Church  is  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  parents  and 
the  Church  in  this  matter.  It  is  of  the  very  greatest 
importance  that  Catholics  should  have  everywhere  for 
their  children  not  mixed  schools,  but  their  own 
schools,  and  these  provided  with  good  and  well  trained 
masters.  Let  no  one  delude  himself  that  a  sound 
moral  training  can  be  separated  from  dogmatic  re- 
ligious training.  To  separate  the  training  in  know- 
ledge from  all  religious  influence,  is  to  form  citizens  to 
be  the  bane  and  pest  of  society  instead  of  being  the 
bulwark  of  their  country.  Moreover,  it  is  not  enough 
for  youths  to  be  taught  religion  at  fixed  hours,  but  all 
their  training  must  be  permeated  by  religious  principles." 

Some  Protestant  educators  of  the  highest  standing 
have  advocated  a  system  which  is  practically  that 
defended  by  Catholics.  Thus  Professor  Schiller 
strongly  insists  on  "concentration  and  unity  in  educa- 
tion. ' '  As  regards  religious  instruction  he  wishes  it 
to  be  given  by  one  "who  has  in  his  hands  the  most 
important  branches  of  instruction,  those  which  are 
best  suited  to  influence  education,"  above  all  literature 
and  history.1  The  same  view  is  also  taken  in  the 
Prussian  "School  Order"  of  1892  and  1901,  where  it 
is  said  that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  religious 
instruction  is  not  rent  from  the  other  branches,  but 

1    Handbuch  der  praktischen  Pddagogik ,  pp.  237-238. 


602  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

intimately  connected  with  other,  particularly  the 
ethical  branches.1  From  this  principle  we  may  draw 
another  argument  for  the  advantages  which  can  be 
derived,  if  education  is  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,2 
especially  in  the  higher  classes,  where  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  theology  is  required  in  order  to  give 
that  religious  training  needed  in  this  stage  of  educa- 
tion. It  is  evident  that  such  a  course  can  be  followed 
only  in  denominational  schools.  For  this  reason  Pro- 
fessor Schiller  deplores  the  fact  that,  in  consequence  of 
religious  differences,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  apply 
this  most  important  principle. 3 

English  and  American  educators  are  not  wanting 
who  advocate  the  same  principle  on  which  the  Jesuits 
have  insisted  for  centuries.  Arnold's  opinion  on  this 
subject  was  quite  explicit.  Sir  Joshua  Fitch  tells  us 
that  he  dreaded  any  theory  which  would  tend  to 
view  the  life  of  the  scholar  as  a  thing  apart  from  the 
life  of  a  Christian.  He  protested  earnestly  against 
any  attempt  to  divorce  religious  from  secular  instruc- 
tion, or  to  treat  them  as  distinct  parts  of  an  educational 
scheme.  "The  device  sometimes  advocated  in  later 
times  for  solving  the  religious  difficulty  in  our  common 
and  municipal  schools  by  confining  the  functions  of 
the  school  teacher  to  secular  instruction,  and  calling 
in  the  aid  of  the  clergy  or  other  specialists  to  give 
lessons  on  religion  at  separate  hours,  would  have 
seemed  to  him  wholly  indefensible,  and,  indeed,  fatal 
to  any  true  conception  of  the  relation  of  religious 
knowledge  to  other  knowledge. ' '  In  one  of  his  ser- 

1    Lehrpldne,  etc.,  p.  11. 

:     See  the  words  of  Professor  Paulsen  above,  p.  100. 

3    L.  c.t  p.  238. 


REUGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  603 

mons  he  said :  "It  is  clear  that  neither  is  the  Bible 
alone  sufficient  to  give  a  complete  religious  education, 
nor  is  it  possible  to  teach  history,  and  moral  and  polit- 
ical philosophy,  with  no  reference  to  the  Bible,  with- 
out giving  an  education  that  shall  be  anti-religious. 
For,  in  the  one  case,  the  rule  is  given  without  the 
application,  and  in  the  other  the  application  derived 
from  a  wrong  rule. ' ' 1 

But  a  few  months  ago  the  same  view  was  forcibly 
expressed  by  a  writer  in  the  Chicago  Biblical  World,'2 
in  a  leading  article  which  is  said  to  be  inspired  by 
the  editor  of  this  review,  President  Harper  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago. 3  In  this  article  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing most  appropriate  statements  :  "It  is  a  serious 
phase  of  the  present  situation  that  the  religious  and 
moral  instruction  of  the  young  is  isolated  from  their 
instruction  in  other  departments  of  knowledge.  The 
correlation  of  the  different  elements  of  education  is 
incomplete,  because  the  religious  and  moral  instruction 
is  received  in  entire  separation  from  the  general  in- 
struction of  the  public  schools.  The  facts  and  truths 
of  religion  are  the  foundation  and  the  imperative  of 
morality.  Present  civilization  rests  upon  the  religious 
and  ethical  ideas  of  the  past,  and  the  civilization  of 
the  future  depends  upon  a  due  recognition  of  religion 
and  morality  as  essential  factors  in  the  growing  wel- 
fare of  humanity.  The  knowledge  and  experience  of 
religious  and  moral  truth  must  underlie  and  penetrate 
all  knowledge  and  experience.  The  events  and  the 
ideas  of  the  past,  as  of  the  present,  must  be  viewed  in 

1  Fitch,  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold,  pp.  95-96. 

2  The  Biblical  World,  November  1902,  p.  324. 
8     The  Literary  Digest,  December  27,  1902. 


604  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  light  of  a  divine  hand  as  the  creator  of  the  uni- 
verse, a  divine  power  sustaining  it,  a  divine  wisdom 
guiding  it,  and  a  divine  purpose  accomplished  in  it. 
The  physical  world  about  us,  our  fellow-men,  and  our 
own  selves  must  all  be  interpreted  by  religion  truly 
conceived  and  morality  properly  understood.  It  is, 
therefore,  impossible  to  accomplish  the  ideal  education 
of  the  individual  when  the  religious  and  moral  element 
is  isolated  from  the  other  elements ;  still  worse  when 
it  is  not  received  at  all  by  the  majority  of  the  children. 
All  the  elements  of  education  must  be  woven  together 
into  an  organic  unity  to  produce  a  perfect  result." 
The  writer  then  proposes  an  organization  which  "may 
seek  to  show  how  to  correlate  religious  and  moral 
instruction  with  the  instruction  in  history,  science, 
and  literature  obtained  in  the  public  schools."  — 
A  comparison  with  the  words  of  Father  Beckx  quoted 
on  a  previous  page  (p.  599)  will  show  the  great  sim- 
ilarity of  the  views  of  the  President  of  the  University 
of  Chicago  and  the  former  General  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus.  But  we  think  there  is  one  essential  differ- 
ence :  the  Jesuit  draws  the  logical  consequences  of  his 
principles,  namely,  that  education  should  be  imparted 
in  denominational  schools ;  for  only  in  such  schools 
can  the  moral  and  religious  training  be  harmoniously 
united  with  the  other  elements  of  instruction.  The 
President  of  the  University  of  Chicago  has  not  drawn 
this  conclusion.  Yet  we  fail  to  see  how,  except  in 
denominational  schools,  the  proposed  correlation  of 
religious  education  and  instruction  in  the  other  bran- 
ches is  pOvSsible.  However,  for  our  present  purpose  it 
suffices  to  have  shown  that  this  distinguished  Ameri- 
can scholar  and  educator  agrees  with  the  fundamental 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  605 

principle  of  the  Jesuits,  namely,  that  religious  instruc- 
tion should  be  closely  connected  with  the  general 
education. 

We  heard  that  Pope  L,eo  said  all  schools,  from  the 
elementary  to  the  university,  should  be  under  the  in- 
fluence of  religion,  not  only  the  lower  schools.  The  stu- 
dent in  the  college  and  the  university  needs  the  saving 
and  elevating  influence  of  Christianity  as  well  as,  and 
perhaps  even  more  than,  the  boy  in  the  elementary 
course.     The  man  who  receives  a  higher  education  is 
to  become  the  leader  and  adviser  of  his  fellow-men. 
This  rdle  he  will  not  assume  to  the  benefit  of  society 
unless  he  possesses  a  thorough  knowledge  of  religion. 
Otherwise  he  will  be  "a  blind  leader  of  the  blind,  and 
both  shall  fall  into  the  pit."     What  dangers  are  to  be 
apprehended  if  the  religious  instruction  does  not  keep 
pace  with  the  growth  of  secular  knowledge,  especially 
in  natural  sciences,  has  been  well  stated  by  a  Catholic 
writer:   "Catholics  have  the  faith  and  a  creed,   but 
it  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  men  to  bear  up  against  the 
superciliousness  with  which  high-sounding  philosophy 
treats  the  doctrine  of  truth  as  puerile,  effete,  and  ob- 
solete.    The  young  man  leaves  school  or  college  with 
certain  religious  principles,  and  with  certain  ideas  of 
the  Being  and  attributes  of  God;  he  is  intended  for  a 
profession  to  which  physiological  science  is  prepara- 
tory.    His   theological  knowledge  is  stationary ;    his 
scientific  is  progressive.     L,ife  and  motion  he  learns  to 
trace  to   secondary  causes,   of  which  before  he  had 
heard  nothing.     He  had  been  taught  that  life  is  a  gift 
of  God,  and  that  it  rests  with  Him  to  destroy  or  to 
save ;    but  now  he  finds  that  life  expresses   but   an 
aggregate  of  properties,  attached  to  organization,  and 


606  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

dependent  for  their  exercise  on  the  perfection  of  the 
organism  and  the  presence  of  certain  stimuli,  as  heat 
and  light  and  electricity.  His  scientific  knowledge 
grows  into  maturity;  his  religion  is  still  that  of  his 
boyhood  or  youth!  He  has  found  other  causes  of  the 
facts  he  sees,  besides  those  that  he  knew  before,  and 
the  conceit  of  knowledge  and  superiority  hides  from 
him  the  fact  that  these  causes  are  themselves  effects : 
and  then  he  ascribes  a  real  power  to  his  generaliza- 
tions, personifies  abstractions,  and  deifies  nature/' l 

For  this  reason  the  Irish  Jesuit  Father  Delaney, 
Rector  of  University  College,  Dublin,  believes  that 
laymen  should  have  a  scientific  training  in  theology. 
"I  should  like,"  he  said  in  his  evidence  before  the 
Royal  Commission  on  University  Education  in  Ireland, 
"that  educated  laymen  should  be  given  an  opportunity 
of  getting  a  scientific  knowledge  of  their  religion.  At 
present  boys  leaving  school  find  newspapers  and 
pamphlets  and  reviews  dealing  with  subjects  vitally 
affecting  Catholicity  and  Christianity  itself,  with  the 
existence  of  a  soul,  and  the  existence  of  God,  and 
where  are  these  men  to  get  the  training  and  knowledge 
to  enable  them  to  meet  difficulties  which  are  suggested 
to  them  in  this  way?"2 

Indeed,  it  would  be  not  only  incongruous,  but  even 
scandalous,  if  a  Christian  place  of  higher  education 
imparted  all  sorts  of  secular  knowledge  and  neglected 
that  which  is  the  most  important,  the  knowledge  of 
the  Christian  religion.  A  Catholic  youth,  when  leav- 

1  Dublin    Review,    Jan.    1847,    p.    383.  —  In   this    con- 
nection we  would  beg  the  reader  to  see  the  beautiful  exposi- 
tion of  the  same  principle  in  Cardinal  Newman's  Idea  of  a 
University  (pp.  372—380):  "General  Religious  Knowledge." 

2  Quoted  in  The  Review,  June  19,  1902,  p.  384. 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  607 

ing  college,  should  be  well  prepared  to  defend  his  faith 
against  the  numberless  misrepresentations  which  are 
prevailing  among  Protestants  about  things  Catholic. 
Half  the  controversies  which  go  on  in  the  world  arise 
from  ignorance  and  misinformation;  and  educated  lay- 
men that  are  able  to  remove  such  prejudices  by  a  cor- 
rect statement  of  facts  of  history  and  doctrines  —  and 
numerous  questions  of  this  kind  occur  in  social  inter- 
course —  not  only  vindicate  the  calumniated  Church, 
but  also  further  peace  and  good  feeling  among  men  of 
different  creeds. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
School  =  Management. 

Holy  Job  says:  "Man's  life  upon  earth  is  a  war- 
fare.'' The  life  of  a  teacher  is  eminently  such.  The 
moment  he  enters  his  class-room  where  thirty  pupils 
await  him,  he  has  to  face  thirty  enemies.  Not  that 
the  pupils  cherish  hostile  or  even  unfriendly  feelings 
towards  their  master.  God  forbid  !  but  there  is  in 
every  one  of  them  some  one  more  or  less  prominent 
defect  or  fault,  which,  in  whole  or  in  part,  will  frus- 
trate the  teacher's  work  in  the  class-room,  and  it  is 
with  these  defects  and  faults,  as  with  so  many  deadly 
foes,  that  the  teacher  must  do  combat.  One  pupil  is 
lazy;  this  one  is  fickle;  that  one  stubborn ;  and  in  all 
there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  ignorance.  Nor  does 
the  teacher's  struggle  cease  with  the  four  or  five  hours 
of  class  work.  There  are  other  trials  awaiting  him  on 
return  home.  The  daily  careful  preparation  of  the 
matter  to  be  taught  is  a  real  drudgery,  while  the  cor- 
rection of  themes  and  compositions  is  very  fatiguing. 
Over  and  above  this  there  is  the  monotony  of  repeat- 
ing the  same  matter  year  after  year.  At  times,  too, 
there  may  come  regulations  from  superiors  which  do 
not  suit  the  taste  of  the  teacher,  which,  however,  must 
be  complied  with ;  for  in  order  to  ensure  unity  and 
harmony  in  any  educational  establishment  some  kind 
of  executive  superintendence  over  persons  and  things 
is  indispensable. 

(608) 


SCHOOL-  MANAGEMENT.  609 

This  presupposes,  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  sub- 
mission and  obedience.  The  Jesuit  teachers  are  told 
by  their  rules  to  obey  the  Prefect  of  Studies  in  all 
things  pertaining  to  studies  and  school  discipline.  It 
is  well  known  that  St.  Ignatius  insisted  on  nothing  so 
much  as  on  obedience.1  The  obedience  demanded  by 
the  Society  has  frequently  been  censured  by  men  who 
do  not  as  much  as  know  what  this  obedience  really 
means.  In  an  army,  or  in  any  department  of  govern- 
ment, a  similar  obedience  is  exacted  as  being  wholly 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  right  order;  why  not 
much  more  so  in  a  religious  community  whose  mem- 
bers profess  obedience  to  their  superiors  in  whom  they 
seethe  representatives  of  God?  M.  De  Ladeveze  said 
recently:  " Military  obedience  has  had  none  but  vig- 
orous apologists,  obedience  in  religious  Orders,  other 
than  the  Society  of  Jesus,  has  had  but  rare  and  indul- 
gent critics,  whilst  the  obedience  of  the  Jesuits  has 
ever  been  the  butt  for  attacks  as  numerous  as  —  my 
readers  would  not  allow  me  to  say  impartial. ' ' 2  Does 

1  "The  Society  of  Jesus, "  says  Cardinal  Newman,  "has 
been  more  distinguished  than  any  before  it  for  the  rule  of 
obedience.  .  .  .    With  the  Jesuits,  as  well  as  with  the  religious 
Communities  which  are  their  juniors,  usefulness,  secular  and 
religious,  literature,  education,  the  confessional,  preaching, 
the  oversight  of  the  poor,  missions,  the  care  of  the  sick,  have 
been  their  chief  object  of  attention;  bodily  austerities  and  the 
ceremonial  of  devotion  have  been  made  of  but  secondary  im- 
portance.    Yet  it  may  fairly  be  questioned,  whether  in  an 
intellectual  age,  when  freedom  both  of  thought  and  of  action 
is  so  dearly  prized,  a  greater  penance  can  be  devised  for  the 
soldier  of  Christ  than  the  absolute  surrender  of  judgment  and 
will  to  the  command  of  another."     In  Development  of  Chris- 
tian Doctrine,  ch.  VIII. 

2  The  Open  Court,  Jan.  1902,  p.  14. 

39 


6 1  o  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

not  St.  Paul  say:  "L,et  every  one  be  subject  to  higher 
powers:  for  there  is  no  power  but  from  God:  and  those 
that  are  are  ordained  by  God.  Therefore,  he  that  re- 
sisteth,  resisteth  the  power  of  God. M  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  passion,  especially  pride,  impetuosity, 
and  stubbornness  frequently  blind  and  deceive  a  man 
to  take  his  own  conceits  for  absolute  infallible  wis- 
dom. Therefore,  St.  Ignatius  addresses  his  sons  in 
the  words  of  Scripture  :  * ' Lean  not  upon  thy  own 
prudence."  Indeed,  many  mistakes  will  be  avoided 
by  the  teacher  who  conscientiously  follows  the  regula- 
tions of  the  school  and  the  orders  of  the  superiors. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  teacher  who  is  lacking  in  sub- 
mission will  sooner  or  later  blunder  most  seriously. 

Further,  how  can  a  teacher  honestly  demand  obed- 
ience from  his  pupils  unless  he  practises  it  himself  ? 
Surely,  there  is  much  truth  in  the  old  monastic 
maxim:  "No  man  securely  commands  but  he  who 
has  learned  well  to  obey. ' ' 1  Personal  obedience  of  the 
teacher,  therefore,  is  a  means  to  secure  him  the  most 
necessary  qualification  for  effective  school  -  manage- 
ment, namely,  authority. 

§  i.     Authority. 

Authority  is  power  or  influence  over  others  derived 
from  character,  example,  mental  and  moral  superior- 
ity. How  can  the  teacher  obtain  this  influence? 
Father  Jouvancy  and  Father  Kropf  have  two  instruc- 
tive chapters  on  this  subject,  from  which  we  draw 
most  of  the  following  observations.  According  to 
Jouvancy,2  three  things  especially  conduce  to  the 

1  Following  of  Christy  I,  ch.  20. 

2  Ratio  Docendiy  ch.  3,  art.  1. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  6 1 1 

acquirement  of  authority  by  the  religious  teachers: 
esteem,  love,  and  fear. 

i.  The  teacher  must  possess  the  esteem  of  his 
pupils.  They  must  respect  him  for  his  learning  and 
his  character.  He  must  thoroughly  master  the  sub- 
ject which  he  has  to  teach.  Besides,  a  careful  pre- 
paration of  the  day's  lesson  should  be  made  invariably 
before.  It  is  most  ruinous  for  the  teacher's  authority, 
if  the  pupils  detect  any  deficiency  in  his  knowledge  — 
and  they  will  discover  it  very  soon  if  there  is  any. 
The  pupils  cannot  and  will  not  listen  to  such  a  teacher 
with  the  respect  and  willingness  which  are  necessary 
not  only  for  a  fruitful  study,  but  also  for  school  disci- 
pline. Remarks  will  be  passed  about  the  teacher's 
mistakes,  or  his  inability  to  handle  the  subject;  per- 
haps bolder  pupils  call  the  teacher's  attention  to  his 
mistakes.  In  such  cases  the  man  who  is  master  of  his 
subject  can,  and  mostly  will,  calmly  admit  that  a  slip 
has  been  made,  whereas  the  teacher  who  is  not  sure  of 
his  subject,  and  who  blunders  frequently,  is  inclined 
to  keep  down  any  objections  by  frowns,  scoldings  or 
even  punishment.  The  result  will  be  dissatisfaction 
among  the  students,  which  may  lead  to  serious 
breaches  of  discipline. 

As  to  his  character,  anything  like  passionate  or 
irritable  behavior,  abusive  language,  haughtiness, 
levity,  whims,  fickleness,  inconsiderate  or  idle  talk, 
mannerisms,  peculiarities  of  gesture  and  expression 
which  will  strike  the  pupils  as  ridiculous,  and  any 
other  defect  of  mind  or  character  will  at  once  be 
detected  by  the  keen  eyes  of  the  students  and  will 
more  or  less  weaken  his  authority.  In  a  teacher  who 
is  a  religious,  the  virtues  expected  of  a  religious  man 


6l2  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

should  appear  in  all  words  and  actions,  and  his  whole 
life  should  bespeak  a  mind  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  lofty  principles  of  Christianity.  Such  a  teacher 
should  remember  the  words  of  Christ:  "So  let 
your  light  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works  and  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in 
Heaven."  l  Indeed,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  him 
to  endeavor  to  gain  the  sincere  esteem  of  the  students, 
not  in  order  to  gratify  his  vanity,  nor  for  any  other 
selfish  purpose,  but  in  order  to  manage  successfully  a 
class  of  petulant  and  mischief-loving  youths. 

2.  The  teacher  must  strive  to  gain  the  affection  of 
his  pupils.'2  This  he  will  obtain  if  they  see  him  eager 
for  their  advancement,  if  he  possesses  the  mastery 
over  his  own  temper,  if  he  never  appears  suspicious  or 
distrustful.  While  kind  and  obliging  in  private,  he 
must  show  himself  earnest  and  grave  before  his  class. 
Besides,  being  always  firm,  he  must  moreover  be 
friendly  and  kind  towards  all,  avoiding  partiality, 
favoritism  and  excessive  familiarity  towards  individu- 
als.3 If  the  teacher  yield  to  the  not  uncommon  weak- 
ness, and  by  any  sort  of  favoritism  tries  to  gain  the 
special  affection  of  a  few,  he  should  be  convinced  that 
he  will  estrange  all  the  rest  from  him  and  thus 
inevitably  undermine  his  authority.  — In  punishments 
he  must  be  considerate,  just,  moderate,  and  show  that 
he  acts  only  from  a  sense  of  duty  and  genuine  love, 
not  from  passion  or  antipathy.4 

The  affection  of  his  pupils  will  be  aroused  by  the 
interest  the  teacher  shows  for  their  health,  their  diffi- 

1  Matth.  5,  16. 

2  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  cli.  3,  art.  1,  no.  2. 

3  See  below  §  3. 
*  See  below  §  2. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  6 1 3 

culties,  their  joys  and  troubles,  and  by  his  ceaseless 
efforts  to  help  them  by  instruction  and  advice. 
Jouvancy  says  the  teacher  should  care  particularly 
for  the  more  delicate,  visit  the  sick,  encourage  the 
backward,  advise  those  that  are  in  any  embarrass- 
ment, in  short,  display  the  earnestness  of  a  father  and 
the  devotion  of  a  mother,  especially  towards  pupils 
recently  enrolled,  and  those  in  need.  He  should  also 
notify  the  parents  of  progress  or  remissness  on  the 
part  of  their  children.  However,  in  most  Jesuit 
colleges  this  is  done  by  the  Prefect  of  Studies  or  the 
Prefect  of  Discipline. 

The  teacher  will  further  gain  the  affection  of  his 
pupils  if  he  performs  his  duties  conscientiously,  but 
without  gloomy  severity.  A  cheerful  countenance 
should  greet  the  students  when  they  arrive  for  the 
morning  session.  For  the  teacher  loses  much  of  his 
authority  if  his  pupils  are  forced  to  make  a  daily  in- 
spection of  his  face,  as  they  would  of  the  bulletin  of 
the  weather  forecast.  The  teacher's  lively  disposition 
and  interesting  way  of  speaking  will  act  like  a 
pleasant  sunny  spring  morning  on  all,  and  do  away 
with  sleepiness  and  dullness,  whereas  sternness  and 
gloom  on  his  part  will  influence  the  class  like  a 
heavy  fog  on  a  winter's  day.  It  is  possible  that  a 
whole  class  appears  slow  and  spiritless,  but  the  profes- 
sor may  be  responsible  for  it,  either  by  his  own  lack 
of  spirit  and  alacrity,  by  his  tedious  talk,  or  also  by 
his  too  excessive  demands  on  the  class.  To  be  ever 
reaching  after  the  absolutely  unattainable,  is  not  par- 
ticularly exhilarating,  yet  the  professor  may  put  his 
pupils  in  such  a  plight  by  placing  before  them  too 
high  a  standard  of  excellence  and  never  admitting 


6 14  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

that  their  best  efforts  bring  them  nearer  the  ideal. 
Hence  judicious  praise  is  a  powerful  factor  in  the 
management  of  a  class;  sometimes  the  effort  may  be 
praised  where  the  result  cannot.  "The  office  of  a 
good  teacher,"  as  Quintilian  prudently  remarks,  "is 
to  seek  and  encourage  the  good  ever  to  be  found  in 
children,  and  to  supply  what  is  wanting,  to  correct 
and  change  whatever  needs  it." 

3.  Fear,  is  the  third  element  which  contributes  to 
authority.1  This  fear  must  be  as  it  is  styled,  timor 
reverentialisj  not  timor  servilis,  i.  e.  the  fear  of  a  child, 
not  of  a  slave.  Gravity,  firmness  and  prudent  con- 
sistency, in  a  word,  manliness,  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  will  instil  this  salutary  fear  into  the  pupils; 
only  few  and  wise  regulations  should  be  made,  but 
these  must  be  firmly  and  prudently  enforced.  If  this 
is  done,  even  the  most  recalcitrant  will  after  some  time 
surrender.  Another  means  of  preserving  this  whole- 
some fear  consists  in  reporting  to  higher  officials  of 
the  school,  or  to  the  parents,  breaches  of  conduct. 
However,  this  should  not  be  done  for  every  trifle,  but 
only  in  case  of  a  more  serious  misdemeanor.  This 
leads  us  to  the  question  of  punishments. 

§  2.     Punishments. 2 

The  saddest  part  of  a  schoolmaster's  task  is  the 
necessity  of  punishing.  Offences  must  be  treated 
seriously,  not  lightly;  but,  at  the  same  time,  as  they 

1  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  1,  no.  3. 

2  Ratio  Stud.,  Reg.  Praef.  Stud.  Inf.  38,  42.  —Reg.  com. 
40.  — Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  1,  no.  2.  —  Kropf, 
Ratio  et   Via>    ch.  6,   art.   7.  —  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  11 
and  12.  —  Monumenta  Paedag.,    chapter    "Del   Castigare," 
p.  277  foil.  —  Woodstock  Letters,  1896,  p.  244. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  615 

are  in  most  cases  the  effects  of  levity  and  weakness, 
they  must  be  treated  with  compassion  and  without 
any  harshness.  The  teacher  should  never  be  hasty  in 
punishing;  if  he  is,  it  will  appear  that  he  is  led  by 
passion.  Often,  and  particularly  when  a  pupil  defies 
the  teacher  and  refuses  obedience,  it  will  be  best  to 
wait  patiently  and  assign  the  punishment  later.  For, 
if  the  punishment  be  inflicted  immediately,  it  will,  in 
all  probability,  be  often  unduly  severe.1  Anger  and 
impetuosity  are  bad  counselors,  and  in  such  trying 
situations  it  is  especially  true  that  ''silence  is  golden." 
If  the  teacher  merely  lets  it  be  seen  how  much  he  is 
pained  by  such  conduct  and  defers  the  punishment, 
he  will  gain  by  his  self-control  in  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  class;  and  the  offender  himself,  having  got  over 
his  excitement,  will  probably  be  in  a  better  disposition 
to  accept  the  punishment. 

The  Ratio  Studiorum  says  the  teacher  should  not 
be  too  eager  to  discover  occasions  for  punishing  his 
pupils.2  There  are  some  teachers  who  seem  always 
on  the  watch  to  impose  tasks.  If  they  do  not  find 
misdeeds  on  the  surface,  they  make  sure  to  ferret  them 
out.  They  were  born  to  be  detectives.  This  is  not 
the  fatherly  spirit  the  teacher  should  manifest.  The 
Ratio  is  opposed  to  this  method.  "See  everything 
but  never  have  the  appearance  of  prying."  Know 
all  that  regards  your  pupils,  but  do  not  always  act  on 
your  knowledge.  If  you  can  conceal  your  dis- 
coveries without  doing  harm,  conceal  them.  In 

1  An  old  regulation  for  Jesuit  schools,  written  in  Italian, 
well  says:  "Non  convien  castigar  subito  dopo  la  colpa  per 
non   dar  luogo  alia  passione  die  fa   passar'  la  misura  del 
castigo. "    Monum.  Paed.,  p.  279. 

2  Reg.  coin.  mag.  cl.  inf.,  40. 


6l6  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

general:  the  fewer  punishments  the  teacher  inflicts, 
the  greater  will  be  his  success,  always  supposing  that 
he  keeps  order  without  punishing.  Any  just  reasons 
for  pardoning,  or  lessening,  the  penance  are  to  be  wel- 
comed. 

There  seems  to  be  abroad  a  sentiment  about  cor- 
poral punishments  which  is  evidently  beyond  the 
bounds  of  reason.  Some  contend  that  corporal  punish- 
ment is- merely  a  ' 'relic  of  the  barbarism  of  former 
ages,"  and  that  it  should  no  longer  be  employed,  but 
that  the  young  should  be  governed  solely  by  moral 
suasion,  by  an  appeal  to  reason  and  the  pupil's  sense 
of  right.  The  inspired  writers  thought  differently. 
Thus  we  read:  "He  that  spareth  the  rod  hateth  his 
son;  but  he  that  loveth  him  correcteth  him  betimes."  l 
" Folly  is  bound  up  in  the  heart  of  the  child,  but  the 
rod  of  correction  shall  drive  it  away."2  There  are 
some  faults :  flagrant  violations  of  modesty  and 
decency,  defiance  of  authority,  impudent  insults 
offered  to  elderly  persons,  continued  laziness,  which 
in  a  younger  boy  are  best  punished  by  the  rod, 
especially  after  exhortations  have  proved  unsuccessful. 
This  was  the  principle  and  practice  of  Jesuit  educa- 
tors, and  the  best  educators  are  again  at  one  with  the 
Jesuits.3 

1  Proverbs  13,  24. 

2  /£.,  22,  15. 

3  See  Fitch,   Lectures  on    Teaching,   IV:    "The  proud 
notion  of  independence  and  dignity,  which  revolts   at   the 
idea  of  personal  chastisement  is  not  reasonable  and  is  cer- 
tainly not  Christian.     After  all  it  is  sin  which  degrades,  and 
not  punishment."  —  On  the  views    of    Kclward    Thring  of 
Uppinghain  on  this  subject,  see  Life  and  Letters  y  by  Parkin, 
London  1898. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  617 

The  Ratio  Studiorum  allowed  the  infliction  of 
punishment  only  under  rigid  regulations;  it  forbids 
the  teacher  absolutely  to  strike  a  boy. l  Corporal 
punishment,  if,  after  calm  deliberation,  thought  neces- 
sary, is  to  be  administered  either  by  a  trusty  servant, 
as  was  the  custom  in  former  times,  or  by  the  Prefect 
of  Discipline.2  At  any  rate,  this  system  prevents 
many  an  indeliberate  act  of  the  teachers,  as  there  is 
always  danger  of  excess  in  the  immediate  punishment 
of  an  offence.  Although  the  rod  was  applied  in  Jesuit 
schools,  its  use  was  by  no  means  as  frequent  as  in 
nearly  all  other  schools.  Compared  to  what  was  done 
in  the  great  public  schools  of  England  and  in  the 
gymnasia  on  the  European  continent,  the  practice  of 
the  Jesuit  colleges  was  exceedingly  mild.  There  was 
never  anything  like  the  brutality  practised  in  Eton,3 
or  those  debasing  punishments,  described  in  The 
Terrors  of  the  Rod  (published  in  1815),  or  in  Cooper's 

1  Reg.  com.  40. 

2  On  this  point  modern  views,  at  least  in  Northern  coun- 
tries, are  different,  and  a  punishment  inflicted  by  a  servant 
is    considered    especially    disgraceful.     Therefore,    the    un- 
pleasant task  devolves  on  the   Prefect  of   Discipline.  —  In 
some  Jesuit  colleges  punishment  was  administered  at  fixed 
'hours,  and  it  was  left  to  the  lad  that  had  offended  to  go  to 
apply  for  castigation.     In  this  way  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
showing  his  manliness  and  taking  his  punishment  with  a 
sense  of  having  deserved  it.     An  English  writer  in  the  St. 
James's  Gazette  calls  it  "evidence  of  the  skill  and  tact  of  the 
Order  to  have  devised  this  method."     LittelVs  Living  Age, 
Boston,  1886,  vol.  170,  p.  248.  —  Of  the  ferula,  the,  instrument 
used  at  Stonyhurst,  the  same  writer  says:  "Few  things  are 
more  disagreeably  painful  and  at  the  same  time  more  harm- 
less and  transitory  in  its  effects  than  the  application  of  this 
instrument." 

3  See  The  Spectator,  No.  168. 


6l8  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

History  of  the  Rod.1  In  the  higher  schools  of  Saxony 
it  was  the  custom,  even  in  the  eighteenth  century,  for 
all  the  members  of  the  faculty  to  punish  offenders 
before  the  whole  school.  When,  in  1703,  the  teachers 
remonstrated  against  this,  they  were  told  by  the 
highest  authorities  to  continue  doing  their  duty.2 
Matters  were  different  in  Jesuit  colleges.  The  offender 
was  punished  in  private  and  only  few  strokes  were 
administered.  Father  Nadal  made  a  regulation  in 
Mentz,  in  1567,  to  the  effect  that  not  more  than  six 
strokes  should  be  given  with  the  rod.  The  boys  were 
not  to  be  struck  in  any  other  way.3  The  above  cited 
Italian  School  Order  adds  that  not  only  the  poor  boys 
should  be  punished  but  the  wealthy  and  noble  as 

1  As   a   curious   illustration   the   case   of    the    Suabian 
schoolmaster  may  be  mentioned,  who  kept  a  diary  and  jotted 
down   in  the  course  of   his  fifty-one  years'  schoolmaster's 
career  the  number  of  times  he  administered  punishment  to 
his  recalcitrant  pupils.     Schoolmaster  John  records  that  he 
distributed  911,517  strokes  with   a  stick;    240,100  "smites" 
with   a   birchrod;    10,988   hits   with   a   ruler;    136,715   hand 
smacks;  10,235  slaps  on  the  face;  7,905  boxes  on  the  ears; 
115,800  blows   on  the   head;    12,763   tasks   from   the   Bible, 
catechism,  the  poets  and  grammar.      Every  two  years  he  had 
to  buy  a  Bible,  to  replace  the  one  so  roughly  handled  by  his 
scholars;  777  times  he  made  his  pupils  kneel  on  peas,  and 
5,001  scholars  had  to  do  penance  with  a  ruler  held  over  their 
hands.     As  to  his  abusive  words,  not  a  third  of  them  were  to 
be  found  in  any  dictionary. 

2  Neuejahrbucher,  1902,  vol.  X,  p.  296. 

3  Pachtler,  vol.  I,  p.  160,  207,  279;  IV,  164—170.  —  It  is 
not  improbable  that  the  moderation  required   by  the  rules 
was  not  always  observed  through  the  fault  of  some  individuals. 
Hence  the  one  instance  of  excessive  flogging  quoted  by  Com- 
payre,  Hist,  of  Ped.>  p.  14,  was  certainly  an  exception. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  619 

well.     These  should  be  made  to  understand*  that  virtue 
is  more  highly  prized  than  nobility.1 

A  word  should  be  added  about  the  famous  "lines." 
If  lines  are  assigned  to  be  committed  to  memory  they 
should  not  be  such  as  are  not  fully  understood.  There 
are  so  many  useful  things  that  have  been  read  or 
should  be  studied,  why  not  give  them  ?  Catechism  or 
Bible  history  should  never  be  assigned  as  penalty;  it 
might  make  these  sacred  books  an  object  of  aversion. 
It  is  advisable,  however,  to  assign  these  books  if  the 
pupil  has  neglected  to  study  his  catechism  or  his 
Bible  history.  If  lines  are  to  be  copied  —  a  punish- 
ment of  questionable  worth  —  at  least  the  same  lines 
should  not  be  copied  more  than  once;  it  is  sheer  non- 
sense to  make  a  student  copy  the  same  line  twenty 
times,  unless  it  be  an  exercise  in  penmanship  for  con- 
tinued careless  writing.  The  teacher  should  insist 
that  all  extra  tasks  are  neatly  and  carefully  written. 
It  is  most  detrimental  to  the  teacher's  authority  to 
assign  punishments  and  not  to  see  that  they  are  done; 
or  to  assign  excessive  tasks  and  then  be  compelled  to 
desivSt  from  demanding  them.  If,  in  particular  cases, 
an  extraordinary  punishment  is  thought  necessary, 
Jesuit  educators  wisely  refer  the  matter  to  a  Superior, 
either  Prefect  or  Rector.  These  officials  should  also 
decide  on  cases  where  punishment  has  been  refused, 
especially  by  older  students. 

§  3.     Impartiality. 

Another  point,  important  for  effective  school- 
management,  is  the  necessity  of  showing  strict  fair- 
ness and  justice.  A  professor  accused  of  favoritism  is 

1    Monumenta  Paedagogica^  p.  278. 


620  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

sadly  hindered  in  his  work.  His  kindly  words  of 
good  advice  fall  on  deaf  ears  and  his  exertions  for  his 
class  are  viewed  with  coldness  and  distrust.  The 
47th  rule  exhorts  the  Jesuit  teacher  not  to  be  more 
familiar  with  one  boy  than  with  the  rest.  Although 
mischievous  tongues  of  jealous  pupils  will  never  cease 
to  impute  faults  which  may  have  no  objective  reality, 
still  a  strict  observance  of  this  rule  will  be  a  precious 
safeguard  to  the  reputation  of  the  teacher  in  a  matter 
which  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  proper  and  success- 
ful discharge  of  his  duty.  A  uniform  spirit  of  kindli- 
ness and  charity  should  be  manifested  towards  all, 
poor  or  rich,  slow  or  highly  gifted,  uncouth  or  polite, 
uncomely  or  attractive.  No  dislike  is  to  be  shown  for 
any  pupil,  no  matter  how  great  the  natural  aversion  is 
which  one  may  feel  towards  him.  The  all-embracing 
charity  of  our  L,ord  should  ever  be  before  the  eyes  of 
the  teacher,  and  he  should  strive  to  be  "all  things  to 
all."  He  must  not  forget  that  in  every  pupil  there  is 
something  good,  a  good  side  from  which  he  may  be 
approached.  And  it  happens  not  unfrequently  that 
in  the  poor  workingman's  son,  diffident,  shy,  and  un- 
gainly as  the  boy  may  be,  there  is  a  nobler  soul, 
greater  talent,  more  prospect  of  great  work  in  the 
future,  than  in  the  much  more  refined,  courteous  and 
winning  boy  of  wealthy  parents.  To  neglect  the  poor 
or  ungainly  lad  would  be  not  only  unjust  and  cruel, 
but  also  directly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  Society, 
which,  in  the  4oth  rule,  tells  the  teacher  "to  despise 
no  one  and  to  work  as  strenuously  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  poor  as  of  the  rich." 

Another  danger  frequently  connected  with  undue 
familiarity  with  some   pupils   has  to   be  mentioned. 


UNIVERSITY 

sL 
SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT. 

The  teacher  is  easily  inclined  to  speak  more  con- 
fidentially to  them  about  other  pupils;  he  may  be  sure 
that  his  remarks  will  be  reported,  most  likely  in  a 
distorted  form,  to  those  whom  he  has  criticized.  This 
will  destroy  the  good  spirit  among  his  pupils,  cause 
bitterness,  ill-feeling,  factions,  and  little  conspiracies 
among  them,  and  the  teacher  will  perhaps  never  be 
able  to  detect  and  remedy  the  evil. 

Undue  familiarity  and  partiality  is  also  very  harm- 
ful to  the  pupil  himself  who  is  thus  singled  out  from 
the  rest.1  If  special  affection  is  shown  to  one,  if  his 
failings  are  tolerated  more  than  those  of  the  rest,  if  he 
is  not  reproved  where  he  deserves  it,  if  he  is  praised 
where  he  hardly  deserves  it,  then  an  opening  is  made 
for  jealousy;  the  Benjamin  of  the  class  will  receive  all 
sorts  of  names,  as  little  flattering  to  him  as  to  the 
teacher;  and  his  position  among  his  companions  may 
become  very  unpleasant.  The  teacher's  unreasonable 
partiality  has  compromised  him  and  has  placed  a 
barrier  between  him  and  his  classmates.  A  still  more 
serious  consequence  is  usually  connected  with  such 
partiality :  the  real  education  of  the  favorite  is 
neglected.  What  training  of  character  can  be  ex- 
pected if  his  whims  are  indulged  in,  if  his  failings  are 
not  corrected,  if  he  is  flattered  and  coddled,  in  short,  if 
he  is  spoiled?  Besides,  such  partiality  invariably 
breeds  vanity,  self-conceit  and  stubbornness.  The 
teacher's  favorite  is  soon  aware  of  the  preference 
shown  to  him.  He  feels  that  he  can  venture  what  his 
companions  dare  not  to  do;  that  class  regulations, 
class  silence  and  the  like  are  less  severe  for  him  than 

1  See :  The  Little  Imperfections,  by  Rev.  F.  P.  Garesche, 
S.J.;  chapter  on  "Partialities."  (Herder,  St.  Louis,  1901.) 


622  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

the  others.  He  will  soon  think  himself  a  privileged 
being,  superior  to  the  rest:  he  will  assume  the  air  of 
authority  over  others  and  pride  is  nourished  in  his 
heart.  Yet  this  is  not  all.  The  next  year  the  pupil 
may  pass  to  a  teacher  who  is  different,  who  does  not 
tolerate  his  caprices  any  more  than  those  of  others 
and  who  tries  to  eradicate  the  evils  that  were  allowed 
to  root  by  his  predecessor.  But  the  spoiled  child  will 
resent  any  strict  treatment,  will  peevishly  refuse  to  be 
corrected.  All  this  may  lead  to  serious  breaches  of 
discipline  and  obedience,  and  to  disagreeable  punish- 
ments. 

From  this  it  should  not  be  inferred  that  a  teacher 
is  forbidden  to  take  a  greater  active  interest  in  some 
than  in  others.  On  the  contrary  he  must  do  this 
especially  in  the  case  of  those  who  need  it  most,  for 
instance,  of  those  who  are  very  bashful,  and  particu- 
larly of  those  who  are  exposed  to  greater  danger.  Just 
as  a  mother  watches  more  anxiously  over  a  delicate 
child,  so  must  a  good  teacher  look  more  particularly 
after  those  whose  spiritual  condition  is  more  delicate. 
"Not  the  healthy  ones  need  the  physician  but  the 
sick.  "  On  this  subject  it  may  be  well  to  quote  once 
more  the  beautiful  words  of  Father  Jouvancy:  "The 
teacher  should  speak  in  private  more  frequently  with 
those  who  seem  to  be  exposed  to  worse  and  more 
dangerous  faults.  If  he  captivates  them  by  a  wise 
and  holy  kindness,  he  attaches  them  not  only  to  him- 
self, but  gains  them  for  Christ. ' '  1 

1    Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  1,  art.  2. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  623 

§  4.     Discipline  in  the  Classroom.1 

The  effectiveness  of  a  teacher  as  teacher  will 
depend  largely  on  his  success  as  a  disciplinarian. 
This  holds  especially  of  the  lower  classes,  where  the 
pupils  are  livelier  and  act  more  from  their  animal 
propensities.  A  few  good  regulations  concerning 
order  in  class,  as  well  as  to  the  manner  of  entering 
and  leaving  the  class  room,  are  to  be  firmly  insisted 
on.  Determination  is  here  the  great  factor.  A  class- 
room yields,  keeps  silence,  remains  quiet,  is  attentive 
and  studious,  if  it  learns  that  the  professor  means  to 
insist  on  these  points.  Of  course,  firmness  can  be 
overdone.  Too  great  persistence  takes  on  the  appear- 
ance of  tyranny  and  challenges  opposition.  On  the 
other  hand,  mildness  easily  gives  place  to  weakness. 
The  teacher  has  to  strike  the  mean,  which  is  golden 
here  as  in  other  things.  However,  it  is  a  maxim  of 
Jesuit  educators  that  it  will  be  good  to  be  more 
reserved,  and  also  stricter  as  to  discipline,  in  the 
beginning,  until  the  teacher  knows  his  class  and  has 
it  under  perfect  control.  It  is  easy  then  to  loosen  the 
reins  a  little,  whereas  it  is  nearly  impossible  to  draw 
them  tight  after  a  spirit  of  levity,  noisiness  and 
general  disorder  has  started  through  the  teacher's 
easy-going  manner. 

The  following  words  of  a  French  Jesuit  educator 
on  this  question  are  most  instructive.  The  master  in 
charge  of  the  boys,  in  his  first  intercourse  with  them, 
has  no  greater  snare  in  his  way  than  taking  his  power 
for  granted  and  trusting  in  his  strength  and  knowledge 
of  the  world.  That  master  who  in  the  very  first  hour 

1  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  2.  —  Kropf,  Ratio 
et  Via,  ch.  6,  art.  3.  —  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  19. 


624  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

has  already  made  himself  liked,  almost  popular  with 
his  pupils,  who  shows  no  more  anxiety  about  his 
work  than  he  must  show  to  keep  his  character  for 
good  sense,  that  master  is  indeed  to  be  pitied;  he  is 
most  likely  a  lost  man.  He  will  soon  have  to  choose 
one  of  two  things,  either  to  shut  his  eyes  and  put  up 
with  all  irregularities  or  to  break  with  a  past  that  he 
would  wish  forgotten,  and  engage  in  open  conflict 
with  the  boys  who  are  inclined  to  set  him  at  defiance. 
He  wished  to  endear  himself  by  acts  of  kindness,  he 
set  about  crowning  the  edifice  without  making  sure  of 
the  foundation.  Accordingly,  the  first  steps  should 
be  characterized  by  an  extreme  reserve,  without  any 
affectation  of  severity  or  diplomacy.1 

Some  good  principles  on  class  discipline  have  been 
laid  down  by  Father  Jouvangy.2  The  first  is:  Prin- 
cipiis  obsta:  Resist  the  evil  from  the  beginning.  As 
soon  as  the  pupils  grow  restless,  no  matter  how  light 
the  disturbance  may  be,  it  must  be  checked  immedi- 
ately. When  some  few  are  especially  giddy  or  mis- 
chievous, they  must  gradually  be  wearied  by  various 
devices:  frequent  questions,  repeated  calling  up  for 
recitations  etc. ,  so  as  to  become  gently  accustomed  to 
bear  the  yoke* 

Secondly:  The  place  of  the  pupils  in  class  should 
not  be  a  chance  affair  or  left  to  their  choice  and 
caprice.3  If  they  are  allowed  to  select  their  places, 
the  light-minded  and  petulant  will  be  found  together 
in  some  corner,  or  in  the  rear,  where  they  anticipate 
full  scope  for  mischief.  By  prudent  tactics  many  a 

1  Barbier,  La  discipline,  Paris  1888.     Quoted  at  greater 
length  by  Quick,  Educational  Reformers,  pp.  60 — 62. 

2  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  2. 

3  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  19,  no.  5. 


SCHOOIy-MANAGKMKNT.  625 

teacher  has  gained  the  battle  as  before-hand,  by 
scattering  the  hostile  forces,  by  separating  the  talkers 
and  mischief-makers.  A  petulant  boy  may  be  assigned 
his  seat  near  a  quiet  and  reserved  boy;  one  whose 
morals  are  justly  suspected  near  one  of  reliable  virtue — 
taking  care,  however,  lest  the  good  boy  be  corrupted 
by  the  one  of  doubtful  character. 

Thirdly:  No  noise  or  confusion  is  to  be  tolerated 
when  the  students  enter  the  class-room.1  They  should 
be  trained  to  consider  this  room  as  a  sacred  place,  "a 
temple  of  science,"  which  ought  to  be  entered  in 
silence  and  modesty.  If  any  come  in  boisterously  the 
teacher  should  at  the  outset  reprimand  or  punish 
them.  This  will  immediately  quiet  their  exuberant 
spirits. 

Fourthly:  The  respect  of  the  pupils  for  their 
teachers  and  for  one  another  will  prompt  them  to 
listen  to  the  instructions  in  absolute  silence.  2 

Sometimes  it  may  happen  that  either  all  the 
scholars,  or  only  a  few,  offend  against  good  conduct 
and  attention.  If  the  former  should  happen,  the 
cause  of  evil  must  be  investigated  and  the  instigators 
must  be  punished.  The  teacher  should  very  rarely 
threaten  the  whole  class,  still  less  should  a  whole  class 
be  subjected  to  punishment.  Such  an  action  irritates 
the  pupils  and,  feeling  confidence  in  their  number, 
they  will  be  inclined  to  conspire  against  the  teacher. 
Extraordinary  tasks,  like  more  weighty  penalties, 
should  be  imposed  on  only  a  few.  "  Frequent  ail- 
ments, unusual  remedies,  and  continual  funerals  dis- 
grace the  physician,"  3  as  Jouvancy  wisely  observes. 
-  l  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  2,  No.  4. 

2  Reg.  com.  43. 

3  Jouvancy,  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  3,  art.  2,  5. 
J       40    y 


626  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

Fifthly:  The  44th  rule  gives  wise  directions  for 
maintaining  order  at  the  end  of  class.  Here  the  dan- 
ger is  greater  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  session. 
The  boys  are  not  so  eager  to  come  to  class  as  after 
recitation  hours  to  rush  to  the  yard  for  a  game  of  base- 
ball, or  to  hasten  home  for  dinner.  But  it  makes 
certainly  a  bad  impression  if  the  boys  run  out  of  class 
like  a  pack  of  hounds  turned  loose.  Therefore,  the 
teacher  should  be  on  hand  and  watch  the  boys  at  this 
critical  time.  These  are  not  the  minutes  for  correcting 
stray  themes,  or  for  conversation  with  another  profes- 
sor, or  with  one  of  the  pupils.  The  teacher  should, 
as  the  rule  says,  take  his  station  at  his  desk,  or  at  the 
door,  and  have  his  eye  on  the  class  room  and  the  cor- 
ridor. All  are  to  leave  the  room  in  silence  and  order. 
There  is  to  be  no  hurry,  no  running  about,  no  jostling. 
If  the  teacher  acts  thus,  all  disorder  will  be  prevented 
far  more  effectively  than  by  punishments. 

§  5.     Politeness  and  Truthfulness. 

Another  point  intimately  connected  with  discipline 
consists  in  the  attention  given  to  politeness  and  good 
manners. l  There  is  nothing  more  attractive  than  a 
class  of  boys  who  are  lively  and,  at  the  same  time,  truly 
polite.  But  the  amusements  of  our  boys,  baseball  and 
football  especially,  easily  lead  to  a  certain  roughness, 
which  is  certainly  the  very  opposite  of  refinement. 
Further,  however  attractive  frankness  and  freedom  of 
behavior  may  be,  they  frequently  degenerate  into  want 
of  respect.  Teachers,  elderly  persons,  and  others  who 
must  claim  the  young  man's  respect,  are  sometimes 
approached  without  due  reverence.  The  greeting  con- 

1  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  14.  —  Kropf,  Ratio  et  Via, 
ch.  5,  art.  1,  §  8. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  627 

sists  in  a  gracious  or  confidential  nod,  or  a  motion  of 
the  hand  in  the  direction  of  the  head,  without  reach- 
ing to  its  end ;  then  the  "youngster"  starts  his  con- 
versation, hat  on,  hands  in  his  pockets,  if  possible 
sitting  or  leaning  on  a  railing,  or  lolling  against  a  wall. 
Our  boys  hear  so  much  of  liberty  that  they  easily  mis- 
take it  for  freedom  from  the  obligations  due  to  age  and 
position,  which  are  everywhere  recognized  and  rightly 
insisted  on,  and  which  are  justly  considered  the  dis- 
tinctive marks  of  true  culture  and  refinement.  Any- 
thing servile,  cringing,  or  affected  is,  of  course,  to  be 
avoided. 

The  teacher  has  many  opportunities  of  inculcating 
the  rules  of  politeness.  But  a  most  important  factor 
is  the  teacher's  example.  Being  before  the  eyes  of  his 
pupils  four  or  five  hours  a  day,  his  personality  will 
naturally  leave  traces  on  their  manners.  He  should 
impress  his  pupils  not  only  as  a  scholar  and  a  pious 
religious,  but  also  as  a  perfect  gentleman.  Nor  will 
the  Jesuit  teacher  ever  fail  in  this  respect,  if  he  care- 
fully observes  the  "Rules  on  Modesty,"  which  are  laid 
down  in  the  Institute,  and  were  considered  of  the 
greatest  importance  by  St.  Ignatius  and  all  true 
Jesuits.  We  shall  quote  a  few  of  these  rules:  "In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  in  all  outward  actions 
there  should  appear  modesty  and  humility,  joined  with 
religious  gravity.  There  should  appear  outwardly  a 
serenity,  which  may  be  the  token  of  that  which  is 
interior.  The  whole  countenance  should  show  cheer- 
fulness rather  than  sadness  or  any  other  less  moderate 
affection.  The  apparel  is  to  be  clean,  and  arranged 
with  religious  decency.  In  fine,  every  gesture  and 
motion  should  be  such  as  to  give  edification  to  all 


628  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

men.  When  they  have  to  speak  they  must  be  mind- 
ful of  modesty  and  edification,  as  well  in  their  words, 
as  in  the  style  and  manner  of  speaking. ' ' 

The  Jesuits  have  always  been  most  sedulous  in 
cultivating  in  their  pupils  politeness,  not  a  mere  ex- 
ternal polish,  but  a  politeness  which  is  the  choice  fruit 
and  exterior  manifestation  of  solid  interior  virtue,  of 
sincerity  of  heart,  humility,  obedience,  and  charity. 
Protestant  writers  have  paid  homage  to  these  endeav- 
ors of  the  Jesuits.  Ranke  writes:  "The  Jesuits 
educated  well-bred  gentlemen. ' '  And  another  Protes- 
tant, Victor  Cherbuliez,  is  almost  extravagant  in  his 
praise  when  he  says :  "However  much  one  may  detest 
the  Jesuits,  when  religion  is  allied  to  intellectual 
charms,  when  it  is  gentle-mannered,  wears  a  smiling 
face,  and  does  all  gracefully,  one  is  always  tempted  to 
believe  that  the  Jesuits  have  had  a  hand  in  the  affair. ' ' l 
Another  point  which  deserves  special  care  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  is  the  cultivation  of  truthfulness  in 
the  pupils.  No  one  teaches  even  for  a  short  time 
without  recognizing  the  necessity  of  fighting  the  evil 
habit  of  mendacity.  A  boy  is  reprimanded  for  unmis- 
takable talking,  whistling,  throwing  paper,  etc.,  and 
how  often  is  the  quick  and  bold  answer  heard :  "It 
wasn't  me,"  bad  English  being  added  to  the  moral 
defect.  A  boy  fails  to  hand  in  a  task.  How  many 
excuses  are  made  which  not  unfrequently  are  more  or 
'•<  less  palpable  falsehoods.  Now  all  this  is  more  serious 
than  it  may  appear  at  first.  How  is  this  evil  to  be 
combated  ? 

First  by  prudence.     Many  lies  could  be  prevented 

if  the  teacher  acted  more  discreetly.     If  a  boy  has  been 

1    Quoted  in  the  Chicago  Open  Court,  January  1902,  p.  29. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  629 

noisy,  and  the  teacher,  especially  one  who  has  the 
reputation  of  inflicting  severe  punishments,  angrily 
charges  him  with  the  offence,  the  boy  will  deny  the 
deed  in  sheer  excitement.  And  one  lie  leads  to  many 
more;  the  boy  assures  and  protests,  in  order  not  to 
expose  his  first  prevarication.  Therefore  the  master, 
as  a  rule,  should  not  insist  on  arguing  the  case,  but 
await  a  better  chance,  when  the  boy  is  calm.  A  teacher 
who  is  patient,  judicious  in  inquiries,  just  and  reason- 
able in  punishments,  will  seldom  be  told  a  lie.  If 
noise  is  going  on  in  class,  such  a  teacher  may  safely 
ask  :  Who  made  that  noise?  And  in  nearly  all  cases, 
as  the  experience  of  many  teachers  has  proved,  the 
offender  will  candidly  acknowledge  it.  Sometimes 
this  confession,  with  an  earnest  but  calm  word  of  ad- 
monition, will  dispense  with  any  further  punishment. 
Of  course,  if  the  pardon  invariably  follows  the  confes- 
sion, there  will  be  no  good  effects  whatever. 

There  are  boys  who,  from  a  long  practice,  have 
acquired  a  most  pernicious  habit  of  lying.  Such  cases 
are  hard  to  deal  with,  and  it  is  difficult  to  lay  down 
general  rules.  A  few  suggestions,  however,  may  not 
be  out  of  place.  Very  rarely,  and  only  on  extreme 
occasions,  should  there  be  shown  any  doubt  of  a 
pupil's  word  on  a  matter  of  fact.  All  should  know 
that  implicit  confidence  is  placed  in  their  assertions, 
and  that  it  is  considered  as  a  matter  of  course  that  they 
speak  the  truth  on  facts  within  their  knowledge.  If 
ever  a  lie  is  found  out  and  proved,  the  punishment 
should  be  severe.  Dr.  Arnold  says,  in  such  a  case  the 
punishment  should  be  the  loss  of  the  teacher's  con- 
fidence. But  even  then  the  teacher  should  try  to  save 
the  offender  from  discouragement  by  holding  out  to 


630  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

him  the  possibility  of  correcting  even  the  habit  of 
lying.  It  has  happened  that  boys  given  to  lying, 
when  once  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  disgracefulness 
of  their  habit,  conceived  such  a  horror  of  it,  that  they 
became  disgusted  with  everything  dishonest,  and 
turned  out  men  distinguished  for  uprightness  and 
truthfulness.  In  this  as  in  other  defects,  it  will  be 
good  if  the  teacher  follows  the  example  of  the  Divine 
Master,  of  whom  it  was  said  :  "The  bruised  reed  he 
shall  not  break,  and  smoking  flax  he  shall  not  ex- 
tinguish. Ml 

Here  again  the  teacher's  example  will  exercise  a 
powerful  influence.  He  must  be  open,  truthful, 
straightforward,  strictly  honest  in  his  dealings  with  the 
pupils,  not  sly,  crooked,  and  political.  If  he  is  asked 
a  question  which  he  cannot  answer,  he  should  say: 
"I  do  not  know  it,"  or  "I  am  not  sure  about  it,  I  will 
inquire  and  tell  you  next  time. ' '  No  one  can  reason- 
ably expect  the  teacher  to  know  everything,  and  by 
such  honest  acknowledgements  he  will  not  lose  a  tittle 
of  his  authority.  If  he  has  made  a  mistake  in  a  state- 
ment, or  in  reprimanding  or  punishing,  he  should 
frankly  admit  it  and  apologize.  No  school  master  is 
infallible.  The  teacher  need  fear  no  detriment  from 
such  a  candid  retractation.  On  the  contrary,  such  a 

1  Matth.  12,  20.  — -  Father  Faber  remarks  in  his  Spiritual 
Conferences:  ' 'There  is  a  peculiar  clearness  about  characters 
which  have  learned  to  be  true  after  having  been  deceitful." — 
The  humiliating  consciousness  of  having  been  found  guilty 
of  deceit,  and  the  yearning  desire  to  be  trusted  again,  forces 
them  to  renounce  everything  like  untruth,  and  to  keep  guard 
over  themselves,  lest  they  fall  again  into  the  old  habit.  —  See 
the  beautiful  chapter  (XII):  "On  being  true  and  trusty"  in 
Practical  Notes  on  Moral  Training,  with  preface  by  Father 
Gallway,  S.  J.,  London,  Burns  &  Gates. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  63 1 

teacher  will  gain  in  the  esteem  of  his  pupils,  who  will 
be  more  disposed  to  accept  his  admonitions. 

§  6.     Some  Special  Helps. 

The  trials  of  the  teacher  are  many  and  vexing. 
A  few  general  means  to  endure  them  successfully  may 
be  suggested.  One  means  is  patience.  Dr.  Arnold, 
referring  to  the  years  of  boyhood,  once  said  the  teacher 
should  try  to  hasten  out  the  growth  of  this  immature 
and  dangerous  age.  But  in  this  endeavor  it  will  be 
good  to  remember  the  Latin  saying:  Festina  lente. 
Impatience,  vehemence,  and  rashness  are  signs  that 
a  teacher  lacks  knowledge  of  the  frail  human  heart. 
He  should  learn  from  the  supreme  model  of  teachers, 
who  showed  a  Divine  longanimity  and  forbearance  in 
the  training  of  his  Apostles  and  Disciples  who  were 
not  always  very  docile  and  quick  of  perception.  From 
him  he  should  learn  the  virtues  necessary  to  the 
teacher  :  "L,earn  from  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  humble 
of  heart. ' ' l  A  distinguished  Jesuit  of  our  days  used 
to  say:  "No  one  likes  to  settle  at  the  foot  of  a  volcano. 
And  a  wrathful,  excitable  teacher  will  do  great  harm. 
The  outbursts  of  his  anger  will  destroy  all  around  like 
the  eruptions  of  a  volcano,  whereas  a  meek,  patient, 
and  prudent  man  is  acceptable  to  God,  wins  the  hearts 
of  men,  and  will  work  successfully."  An  old  regula- 
tion of  Jesuit  schools2  recommends  especially  patience: 
"The  teachers  of  youths  should  ever  remember  the 
one  perfect  teacher,  Christ  our  Lord,  that  they  may 
imitate  his  benignity  and  kind  forbearance  toward  the 
simple  ones,  that  they  may  be  unwearied  in  teaching 
and  adapt  themselves  to  the  capacity  of  their  auditors, 

\    Matth.  11,  29. 

2    Pachtler,  vol.  I,  pp.  159—160. 


632  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

admonish  their  pupils,  practise  them  diligently  and 
zealously,  and  gradually  advance  them,  as  well  those 
of  slower  perception  as  those  of  ready  perception,  as 
Paul  the  great  Apostle  says:  'We  became  little  ones 
in  the  midst  of  you,  as  if  a  nurse  should  cherish  her 
children.'  "? 

One  should,  therefore,  never  be  surprised  at  mis- 
takes or  moral  faults ;  least  of  all  should  one  be  vexed 
at  fickleness,  unsteadiness,  fits  of  laziness.  These  are 
defects  of  age,  or  weakness  of  character,  not  signs  of 
bad  will,  consequently  they  are  to  be  treated  kindly. 
There  are  some  things  which  the  teacher  should  take 
good-humoredly.  Many  teachers  feel  irritated  on  dis- 
covering that  the  boys  have  given  them  a  nickname. 
Why  not  take  it  good-naturedly  and  heartily  laugh 
about  it?  In  general,  a  cheerful  disposition  combined 
with  a  great  amount  of  patience  will  make  many  of 
the  troubles  of  school  life  more  endurable. 

Another  most  powerful  means  for  overcoming  the 
trials  of  teaching,  and  at  the  same  time  for  laboring 
successfully,  is  prayer.  The  ''modern"  systems  have 
little  to  say  about  it,  and  many  educators  may  be  in- 
clined to  sneer  at  such  a  pedagogical  help.  Still  there 
is  a  sublime  truth  in  what  Tennyson  says  in  his  beauti- 
ful lines: 

"Pray  for  my  soul. 
More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of."2 

One  who  believes  in  the  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity  cannot  ignore  our  Savior 'swords:  "With- 
out me  you  can  do  nothing,"3  and  the  other:  "What- 

1  1.  Thess.  2,  7. 

2  Words  of  King  Arthur  in  Morte  &  Arthur. 

3  John  15,  5. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  633 

soever  you  shall  ask  the  Father  in  iny  name,  that  will 
I  do,"  1  and  the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians, 
who  contended  about  the  superiority  of  their  teachers 
in  the  faith:  "I  have  planted,  Apollo  watered,  but 
God  gave  the  increase;"2  further  the  words  of  St. 
James:  "If  any  one  of  you  want  wisdom,  let  him  ask 
of  God,  and  it  shall  be  given  him."3  As  we  have 
seen,  the  Jesuits  consider  education  from  a  super- 
natural point  of  view.  They  endeavor  to  lead  the 
children  to  the  knowledge,  love,  and  service  of  Christ, 
according  to  Christ's  words :  "Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 
This  is  an  aim  above  man's  nature,  and  can  be  obtained 
only  by  supernatural  means.  God  alone  can  give  the 
teacher's  words  the  power  to  enter  into  the  will,  that 
impregnable  citadel  of  man's  nature.  This  power 
from  on  high  is  bestowed  on  him  who  humbly  asks 
for  it  in  prayer. 

We  must  expect  that  St.  Ignatius  did  not  think 
lightly  of  this  means.  In  the  i6th  rule  of  the  Sum- 
mary of  the  Constitutions,  all  Jesuits  are  exhorted  "to 
apply  to  the  study  of  solid  virtues  and  of  spiritual 
things ;  and  to  account  these  of  greater  moment  than 
either  learning  or  other  natural  or  human  gifts:  for 
they  are  the  interior  things  from  which  force  must 
flow  to  the  exterior,  for  the  end  proposed  to  us." 
This  trust  in  God's  assistance  in  no  way  lessens  the 
earnest  endeavors  of  the  religious.  As  the  old  prin- 
ciple of  the  great  order  of  St.  Benedict  was:  Or  a  et 
labora,  so  St.  Ignatius  says:  "L,et  this  be  the  first  rule 

1  John  14,  13. 

2  1.  Cor.  3,  6. 

3  fames  1,  6, 


634  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

of  all  your  actions :  trust  in  God,  as  if  all  success 
depended  on  him,  nothing  on  yourself ;  but  work,  as 
if  you  had  to  do  all  and  God  nothing. ' '  In  the  Ratio 
Studiorum  the  teachers  are  admonished  '  'frequently 
to  pray  for  their  pupils. "  l  The  Jesuit  Sacchini  has  a 
special  chapter  on  the  importance  of  the  teacher's 
prayer,2  and  exhorts  him  to  recommend  his  disciples 
daily  to  Christ,  and  to  invoke  for  them  the  inter- 
cession of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God,  of  the  Guardian 
Angels  and  of  the  patrons  of  youth.  Father  Jou- 
vancy 3  tells  the  teacher  never  to  go  to  class  without 
having  said  a  fervent  prayer,  if  possible  in  the  Church 
before  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  He  suggests  a  beautiful 
prayer  which  is  almost  wholly  drawn  from  Scripture: 
"I,ord  Jesus,  thou  hast  not  hesitated  to  meet  the  most 
cruel  death  for  these  children;  thou  lovest  them  with 
an  unspeakable  tenderness;  thou  wouldst  that  they 
were  led  to  thee  (Mark  10,  14).  Yea,  whatever  is 
done  to  one  of  these  thy  least  brethern,  thou  wilt  con- 
sider as  done  to  thee  (Matth.  25,  40):  I  beg  and  im- 
plore thee,  'keep  them  in  thy  name  whom  thou  hast 
given  me;'  'they  are  thine',  'sanctify  them  in  truth' 
(John  17,  6.  9.  ii.  17).  'Give  thy  words  in  my 
mouth'  (Jerem.  1,9),  open  their  hearts  that  they  may 
begin  to  love  and  fear  thee.  'Turn  away  thy  face 
from  my  sins  '(Psalm  50,  n),  and  let  not  thy  mercy 
be  hindered  through  my  faults.  Give  me  the  grace  to 
educate  these  children,  whom  thou  hast  entrusted  to 
me,  with  prudence,  piety  and  firmness,  to  thy  glory, 
which  is  all  I  ask."  Truly,  this  is  praying  in  the 

1  Reg.  com.  mag.  cl.  inf.  10. 

2  Paraenesis,  art.  15. 

3  Ratio  Docendi,  ch.  I,  art.  1. 


SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT.  635 

name  of  Jesus.  And  if  the  teacher  is  a  man  of  solid 
piety  and  virtue,  as  the  Society  expects  him  to  be 
after  a  religious  training  of  so  many  years,  the  grace 
of  God  will  surely  lighten  the  burden  of  his  work. 
"For  the  continual  prayer  of  a  just  man  availeth 
much. ' ' l 

1    James  5,  16. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Teacher's  Motives  and  Ideals. 

The  teacher's  life  is  a  most  arduous  one.  L,ike 
that  of  the  scholar  and  scientist  it  presents  few  attrac- 
tions. It  has  none  of  the  external  brilliant  dramatic 
quality  that  makes  the  soldier's  and  stateinan's  career 
attractive,  and  as  its  material  remuneration  is  relatively 
scanty,  and  the  chance  of  promotion  to  a  lucrative 
position  is  almost  excluded,  it  can  make  little  impres- 
sion on  an  age  whose  watchwords  are  exterior  success 
and  material  progress.1  Still,  the  teacher's  mission  is 
one  of  the  greatest  importance  while  touched  with 
sublimity.  It  is  in  a  way  a  ' 'priestly"  office,  for  the 
material  on  which  the  teacher  works  is  the  mind,  the 
immortal  soul  of  man;  his  object  is  truly  ''sacerdotal," 
namely  to  consecrate  these  souls  to  their  Creator,  to 
make  them  more  God-like  in  wisdom  and  moral 
goodness.  The  teacher  is  also  entrusted  with  the 
destinies  of  society;  the  children  and  youths  whom  he 
now  trains  will  one  day  be  the  heads  of  families,  the 
parents  of  a  new  generation,  the  men  that  powerfully 
influence  public  opinion  for  good  or  ill,  in  the  press 
and  from  the  platform,  the  citizens  whose  vote  will 
make  or  mar  their  country.  Surely,  this  is  a  profes- 
sion that  deserves  the  enthusiasm  of  noble  hearts  and 
the  absorbing  interest  of  the  ablest  minds. 

1    See  Brownsorfs  Review,  1860,  pp.  303  and  314. 
(636) 


THE;  TEACHER'S  MOTIVES  AND  IDEALS.        637 

In  the  case  of  the  Jesuit  teacher  there  can  be  no 
question  of  a  material  compensation.  What  he  needs 
for  his  sustenance  is  furnished  by  the  Order;  beyond 
this  he  seeks  no  earthly  reward.  In  this  all  members 
of  the  Order  are  equally  situated:  the  professor  of 
philosophy  and  the  teacher  of  the  lowest  grammar 
class,  the  President  of  the  college,  and  the  lay  brother 
who  acts  as  porter.  What,  then,  are  the  motives  that 
inspire  him  to  undergo  willingly  and  cheerfully  the 
labors  and  trials  of  his  profession?  They  are  in  the 
first  place  the  consideration  of  the  utility  and  the 
dignity  of  his  calling.  He  is  convinced  that  teaching 
is  a  grand  and  noble  profession.  St.  Gregory  Nazian- 
zen  says:  "There  is  nothing  more  God-like  than  to 
benefit  others;"1  and  what  benefit  can  be  greater 
than  that  of  education,  as  we  have  described  it  in 
previous  chapters:  the  making  of  man,  the  harmonious 
development  of  all  his  faculties,  the  fitting  him  for 
best  performing  the  duties  of  this  life  and  the  prepar- 
ing him  for  the  life  to  come?  Is  not  this  thought  a 
reward  as  well  as  a  powerful  incentive  for  the  teacher 
to  exert  himself  most  strenuously  in  his  sublime  voca- 
tion? 

The  Jesuits  Sacchini  and  Jouvancy  have  written 
some  beautiful  passages  on  this  subject.  Their  com- 
parisons may  seem  to  some  far-fetched  or  even  fan- 
tastic, but  they  will  appear  natural  and  appropriate  to 
every  person  who  views  things  in  the  light  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Great  Master.  These  two  Jesuits  say 
that  the  school  may  be  considered  as  a  garden,  a 
nursery,2  in  which  the  choicest  trees  and  flowers  are 

1  Migne,  Patrologia  Graeca,  vol.  XXXV,  892. 

2  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  5,  no.  1 — 2. 


638  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

cultivated,  plants  whose  saplings  are  not  brought  from 
the  tropics,  but  from  heaven,  whither  they  are  again 
to  be  transplanted,  when  fully  grown.  They  are, 
under  the  tender  and  prudent  care  of  the  teacher,  to 
yield  abundant  fruit  of  virtues,  of  human  and  divine 
wisdom.  They  are  to  become  the  ornaments  of 
Church,  State  and  society.  They  are  the  plants  of 
which  the  Son  of  Sirach  said:  " Hear  me,  ye  divine 
offspring  and  bud  forth  as  the  rose  planted  by  the 
brooks  of  waters,  give  ye  a  sweet  odor  as  frankincense. 
Send  forth  flowers,  as  the  lily,  and  bring  forth  leaves 
in  grace."1  In  this  garden  the  teacher,  like  him 
1  'who  sowed  the  good  seed,"  has  to  sow  and  to  plant 
by  instruction,  to  dig  and  to  water  by  practice  and 
exercise,  to  weed  and  to  prune  by  salutary  admoni- 
tion, to  fence  and  restrain  by  wi.se  regulations.  Be- 
sides, the  virtuous  example  of  the  teacher  combined 
with  cheerfulness  in  performing  all  his  duties,  will  be 
the  atmosphere  in  which  the  plants  grow  wonderfully. 
However,  the  husbandman  can  plant  and  water,  but 
not  prevent  storms  and  hail  and  frost  and  drought, 
and,  therefore,  implores  heaven's  protection  for  his 
fields;  so  the  teacher  must  see  the  necessity  of  divine 
blessing  for  his  class,  a  grace  which  will  be  given  to 
humble  and  fervent  prayer. 

The  teacher  may  consider  himself  the  shepherd  of 
the  tender  lambs  of  the  flock  of  Christ.2  The  chil- 
dren, in  a  special  sense,  may  be  called  the  lambs  of 
Christ's  flock.  The  teacher's  duty  is  to  feed  them,  to 
lead  them  to  the  wholesome  pasture  and  to  the  clear 
springs  of  divine  and  human  knowledge.  He  must 

1  Ecclesiasticus  39,  17  sq. 

2  Sacchini,  Paraenesis,  art.  5,  no.  3. 


THE  TEACHER'S  MOTIVES  AND  IDEALS.        639 

protect  them  against  the  wolves,  especially  those  that 
"are  clothed  in  sheepskins,"  that  come  in  the  garb  of 
agnostic  and  infidel  science,  or  in  the  glittering  dress 
of  pernicious  reading.  He  must  protect  his  flock 
without  sparing  himself,  not  fly  from  dangers  and 
exertions  like  the  hireling,  but  must  be  ready  to  "give 
his  life  for  his  sheep,"  that  means,  he  must  sacrifice 
himself,  devote  all  his  time  and  strength  to  his  class. 
He  should  '  'go  before  his  sheep' '  by  his  good  example, 
attract  them  by  kindness  and  meekness,  that  they 
may  "know  his  voice  and  follow  him,  and  fly  not 
from  him  as  from  a  stranger  whose  voice  they  know 
not."1 

Again,  is  not  the  teacher  to  be  compared  to  a 
sculptor,  or  a  painter?2  We  admire  the  masterpieces 
of  Phidias,  Praxiteles,  Lysippus,  of  Michael  Angelo 
and  Raphael.  And  yet,  the  teacher's  art  is  far 
nobler.  Those  artists  produced  likenesses  of  marble 
or  bronze,  likenesses  that  are  cold  and  lifeless, 
whereas  the  teacher  is  working  at  living  statues. 
Those  artists  could  produce  only  exterior  likenesses  of 
men  or  of  superior  beings ;  the  teacher  shapes  the 
innermost  nature  of  man.  Nay,  more,  the  Christian 
teacher  endeavors  to  bring  out  more  beautifully  the 
image  of  God.  Christ,  the  true  teacher  of  mankind 
is  his  ideal  and  model.  In  prayer  and  meditation  on 
the  life  of  Christ,  he  studies  line  after  line  of  him 
to  whom  he  applies  the  words  of  the  royal  prophet: 
"Thou  art  beautiful  above  the  sons  of  men,  grace  is 
poured  abroad  in  thy  lips.  With  thy  comeliness  and 
beauty  set  out,  proceed  prosperously  and  reign."3 

>    John  10,  4.  5.  11. 

2  Sacchini,  Protrepticon,  Part  I,  art.  8. 

3  Psalm  44,  3  sq. 


640  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Having  grasped  this  beauty  he  tries  to  express  in  his 
own  character,  and  then  to  embody  in  the  hearts  of 
his  pupils  that  heavenly  beauty  of  purity,  humility, 
meekness  and  charity  which  shines  forth  from  every 
word  and  action  of  the  God-man.  Thus  he  is  making 
real  living  pictures  of  Christ,  which  for  all  eternity 
shall  be  ornaments  in  heaven,  the  trophies  of  the 
labors  and  struggles  of  the  zealous  teacher.  And 
whereas  the  greatest  artist  can  work  only  at  one  statue 
or  picture  at  the  same  time,  the  teacher  is  working  on 
as  many  as  he  has  auditors. 

The  teacher  is  an  architect;  he  does  not  build 
merely  a  splendid  city  hall,  nor  a  national  capitol,  nor 
even  a  cathedral  of  stone  or  marble:  he  builds  up 
those  living  temples,  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks: 
4 'Know  you  not  that  you  are  the  temple  of  God,  and 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you?"  l 

The  teacher  is  the  tutor  of  the  sons  of  the  Most 
High.  King  Philip  of  Macedon  chose  Aristotle  as 
preceptor  to  his  son  Alexander,  an  office  which  the 
great  philosopher  discharged  for  many  years.  The 
letter  which  Philip  wrote  to  invite  Aristotle,  is  said  to 
have  been  couched  in  the  following  terms:  "Be  in- 
formed that  I  have  a  son,  and  that  I  am  thankful  to  the 
gods  not  so  much  for  his  birth  as  that  he  was  born  in 
the  same  age  with  you  ;  for  if  you  will  undertake  the 
charge  of  his  education,  I  assure  myself  that  he  will 
become  worthy  of  his  father  and  of  the  kingdom 
which  he  will  inherit."  King  Philip's  hope  was  not 
disappointed.  His  son,  Alexander  the  Great,  became 
one  of  the  greatest  figures  in  human  history,  and  his 
success  is  partly  due  to  his  great  teacher.  At  all  times 

1    1.  Cor.  3,  16. 


THE  TEACHER'S  MOTIVES  AND  IDEALS.        641 

it  was  a  much  coveted  houor  to  be  the  tutor  to  the 
sons  of  Emperors,  Kings,  Princes,  and  other  high 
personages.  Is  not  every  Christian  teacher  tutor  to  the 
sons  of  the  King  of  Kings?1  St.  John  says:  "Behold, 
what  manner  of  charity  the  Father  has  bestowed  upon 
us,  that  we  should  be  called  and  should  be  the  sons 
of  God.  "2 

Lastly,  the  teacher  should  consider  himself  the 
representative  and  successor  of  Christ  in  his  love  for  his 
children.  No  feature  in  the  life  of  the  Teacher  of 
mankind  is  more  fascinating  than  his  love  for  chil- 
dren. The  Gospels  commemorate  a  scene  of  unspeak- 
able tenderness  and  sweetness.  "Then  little  children 
were  brought  to  him  that  he  might  touch  them."3 
He  does  not  bless  them  together,  but  lays  his  hands 
on  every  child,  and  takes  one  after  the  other  in  his 
arms.  From  this  scene  Christian  teachers  must  learn 
an  important  lesson:  love  and  reverence  for  children. 
Indeed,  princes  of  heaven  are  appointed  their  guar- 
dians, and  the  teacher  should  be  like  them  in  watchful 
care  for  the  young.  This  care  is  all  the  more  neces- 
sary as  the  teacher  in  higher  schools  has  to  do  with  the 
young  when  the  first  and  most  attractive  chapter  of 
their  history  is  already  over,  at  the  time  when  the 
storms  of  temptations  rage  most  furiously  in  their 
hearts.  With  Christ's  love  for  children  must  fre- 
quently be  united  the  good  Samaritan's  compassion 
and  anxious  solicitude  for  the  wayfarer  who  fell 
among  the  robbers.  Frequently  enough  there  is  sad 
need  of  the  teacher's  fatherly  care,  not  only  in  the 

1  Sacchini,  Protrepticon,  Part  I,  art.  12. 

2  1  John  3,1. 

*    Mark  10,  13. 
41 


642  JKSUIT   EDUCATION. 

case  of  the  children  of  the  poor  but  also  of  the  rich. 
Some  wealthy  parents  pride  themselves  that  they  do 
all  in  their  power  to  procure  for  their  children  the  best 
possible  education,  from  the  best  instructors  in  elocu- 
tion, music,  gymnastics,  etc.,  and  yet  that  which 
above  all  is  education  —  moral  and  religious  training 
—  is  sadly  neglected,  owing  to  the  indifference  that 
pervades  the  family  life.  In  consequence  of  this 
neglect  of  the  most  important  part  of  education,  it  has 
happened  that  many  a  man  ended  his  life  in  disgrace 
and  wretchedness  whose  childhood  was  spent  among 
the  luxuries  of  a  splendid  home.  Fortunate  is  the 
youth  who  is  placed  under  the  tutelage  of  teachers 
who  endeavor  to  counteract  the  baneful  influences  of 
a  neglected  or  ill-directed  home  training.  These  con- 
siderations explain  the  anxious  care  and  strenuous 
exertions  of  religious  teachers  to  promote  the  moral 
training  of  their  charges.  They  realize  that  now  is 
the  spring-time  of  life  when  the  good  seed  must  be 
sown,  if  a  rich  harvest  is  to  be  hoped  for  in  the 
autumn.  They  know  that  now  their  work  is  most 
useful,  most  promising  of  success.  Now  the  pupil's 
nature  is  docile  and  pliable  as  wax.  And  if  it  were  hard 
as  marble,  still  the  material  is  not  yet  spoiled  and 
may  be  shaped  into  a  beautiful  statue,  and  it  should 
not  be  forgotten,  of  the  hardest  marble  the  most 
endurable  statues  are  made,  though  with  greater  care 
and  labor.  Similarly  the  most  stubborn  and  head- 
strong of  boys,  under  patient  and  prudent  guidance, 
often  develop  into  the  finest  character  of  manhood. 

To  the  Jesuit  these  considerations  furnish  power- 
ful incentives,  the  motives  which  inspire  him  in  all 
his  work.  St.  Ignatius,  in  calling  his  Order  the 


THE  TEACHER'S  MOTIVES  AND  IDEALS.        643 

Society  of  Jesus,  wished  to  impress  it  forcibly  on  the 
minds  of  his  sons  that  they  were  to  endeavor  to 
imitate  him  whose  name  they  bear,  especially  in  his 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  his  Father  and  the  welfare  of 
men.  Indeed,  other  educators  may  take  as  their 
guides  and  ideals  Spencer,  or  Rousseau,  or  Kant,  or 
Pestalozzi,  or  Herbart  —  the  Jesuits'  guide  and  ideal 
is  Christ.1  Him  they  are  told  to  imitate  in  his  devo- 
tion to  his  life-work,  in  his  all-embracing  zeal,  in  his 
patience  and  meekness.  In  education  they  behold  a 
participation  in  the  work  of  the  Great  Master,  that 
work  whose  end  and  object  it  is  to  make  men  truly 
wise,  good,  and  God-like,  and  thereby  to  lead  them  to 
true  happiness.  Can  there  be  a  nobler,  a  loftier  work, 
a  holier  mission  on  earth  ? 

When  the  teacher  thus  reflects  on  the  dignity  of 
his  work,  and  on  its  necessity  and  utility  for  the  in- 
dividual, the  family,  the  State  and  the  Church,  can 
he  ever  become  tired  and  disgusted  with  it?  Are  all 
these  considerations  not  most  encouraging,  and  do 
they  not  constitute  one  of  the  rewards  of  the  teacher  ? 
He  may  truly  say  with  the  sacred  writer:  " Wisdom  I 
have  learned  without  guile  and  communicate  without 
envy  and  her  riches  I  hide  not,"2  and  again:  "I 
have  not  labored  for  myself  alone,  but  for  all  who  seek 
discipline. ' ' 3  Such  thoughts  may  well  inspire  a  man 
with  love  and  enthusiasm  for  this  profession.  To  the 
Jesuit  the  educational  work  is  a  labor  of  love.  We 
read  that  in  the  seventeenth  century,  in  the  period 

1  On  the  "Pedagogy  of  Our  Lord"  there  is  a  beautiful 
article  by  Father  Meschler,  S.  J.,  in  the  Stimmen  aus  Maria- 
Laach,  vol.  38,  1890,  p.  265  foil. 

2  The  Book  of  Wisdom  7,  13. 

3  Ecclesiasticus  33,  18. 


644  JESUIT   EDUCATION. 

of  witch  panic,  some  Protestant  writers  charged  the 
Jesuits  with  using  secret  charms  in  order  to  attach 
the  pupils  to  themselves  and  to  advance  them  in 
learning.1  Indeed,  the  Jesuits  as  educators  have  a 
spell,  and  make  no  secret  of  it,  but  they  will  be  glad 
if  others  wish  to  borrow  it.  This  spell  is  nothing  but 
ardent  devotion  to  their  work,  a  devotion  which 
springs  from  the  conviction  of  the  importance  and 
usefulness  of  their  work.  This  devotion  is  their 
strongest  motive  to  action  and  it  urges  them  to  use  all 
the  resources  within  their  reach. 

Although-  the  teacher  does  not  seek  himself  in  his 
work,  nevertheless  he  labors  also  for  himself.  What 
better  compensation  can  there  be  than  the  thought  of 
performing  so  important  a  work,  the  conviction  that 
through  his  instrumentality  noble  characters  are 
formed,  that  some  youths  are  preserved  in  their  in- 
nocence and  others  led  back  from  evil  paths  on  which 
they  had  trodden  in  their  ignorance  and  levity?  The 
teacher  may  not  receive  much  recognition  and  grati- 
tude for  his  efforts  —  youths  do  not  reflect  on  the  debts 
they  owe  to  a  zealous  teacher  — ,  nor  is  it  this  that  he 
is  looking  for  in  his  labors.  However,  some  pupils 
will  show  their  thankfulness  by  a  lifelong  affection  for 
their  former  master.  If  one  wishes  to  know  with 
what  reverence,  devotion,  and  frequently  with  what 
attachment  Jesuit  pupils  regard  their  teachers,  let  him 
read  the  biographies  of  Jesuit  educators.  The  letters 
written  by  former  pupils  sufficiently  testify  to  the 
impressions  made  by  their  religious  teachers. 

If  one  wishes  to  see  beautiful  specimens  of  the 
relation  of  Jesuit  pupils  to  their  teachers,  he  may  read 

1    See  above  pp.  147—148. 


THE  TEACHER'S  MOTIVES  AND  IDEALS.       645 

the  biography  of  Father  Alexis  Clerc,  who  left  the 
French  Navy  to  become  a  Jesuit  and  professor  of 
mathematics  and  was  shot  by  the  Communards  in 
Paris  1871. l 

But  it  is  rather  the  success  of  his  pupils  over 
which  the  teacher  rejoices,  than  their  tribute  of  grati- 
tude. An  incident  is  related  of  the  life  of  Father 
Bonifacio,  a  distinguished  Jesuit  teacher  of  the  Old 
Society,  who  for  more  than  forty  years  taught  the 
classics.  One  day  he  was  visited  by  his  brother,  a 
professor  in  a  university,  whom  he  had  not  seen  for 
many  years.  When  the  professor  heard  that  the 
Father  had  spent  all  the  years  of  his  life  in  the  Society 
in  teaching  L,atin  and  Greek  to  young  boys,  he  ex- 
claimed: "You  have  wasted  your  great  talents  in  such 
inferior  work  !  I  expected  to  find  you  at  least  a  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  or  theology.  What  have  you 
done  that  this  post  is  assigned  to  you?"  Father  Boni- 
facio quietly  opened  a  little  book,  and  showed  him 
the  list  of  hundreds  of  pupils  whom  he  had  taught, 
many  of  whom  occupied  high  positions  in  Church  or 
State,  or  in  the  world  of  business.  Pointing  at  their 
names,  the  Father  said  with  a  pleasant  smile :  "The 
success  which  my  pupils  have  achieved  is  to  me  a  far 
vSweeter  reward  than  any  honor  which  I  might  have 

1  Alexis  Clerc,  Sailor  and  Martyr,  New  York,  Sadlier, 
1879.  See  especially  chap.  XII:  "Father  Clerc  and  his 
pupils."  It  may  be  interesting  to  add  that  the  American 
edition  of  this  biography  is  dedicated  to  the  memory  of 
Father  Andrew  Monroe,  S.  J.  (grand-nephew  of  President 
Monroe),  officer  in  the  American  Navy  and  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  who,  after  spending  his  religious  life,  like  his 
friend  Father  Clerc,  chiefly  in  the  humble  duties  of  a  profes- 
sor, died  at  St.  Francis  Xavier  College,  New  York,  1871. 


646  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

obtained  in  the  most  celebrated  university  of  the  king- 
dom." 

Not  all  teachers  may  have  the  consolation  of  seeing 
their  pupils  in  high  positions.  It  happens  that  the 
best  efforts  of  a  devoted  teacher  seem  to  be  lost  on 
many  pupils.  Even  this  will  not  discourage  the 
religious  teacher.  He  will  remember  that  his  model, 
Jesus  Christ,  did  not  reap  the  fruit  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  the  teaching  of  such  a  Master. 
Not  all  that  he  sowed  brought  forth  fruit,  a  hundred- 
fold, not  even  thirtyfold.  Some  fell  upon  stony 
ground,  and  some  other  fell  among  the  thorns,  and 
yet  he  went  on  patiently  sowing.  So  a  teacher  ought 
not  to  be  disheartened  if  the  success  should  not  corre- 
spond with  his  labors.  He  knows  that  one  reward  is 
certainly  in  store  for  him,  the  measure  of  which  will 
not  be  his  success,  but  his  zeal ;  not  the  fruit,  but  his 
efforts.  The  Great  Master  has  promised  that  "who- 
soever shall  give  to  drink  to  one  of  these  little  ones  a 
cup  of  cold  water,  he  shall  not  lose  his  reward. ' ' l 
What,  then,  may  he  expect,  who  has  given  the  little 
ones  of  Christ  not  a  cup  of  cold  water,  but  with  great 
patience  and  labor  has  opened  to  them  the  streams  of 
knowledge,  human  and  divine?  Indeed,  "they  that 
instruct  many  to  justice  shall  shine  as  stars  for  all 
eternity."  2 

1  Matth.  10,  42. 

2  Daniel  12,  3. 


Conclusion. 

We  have  examined  the  educational  system  of  the 
Jesuits  in  its  various  aspects,  its  history  and  its  prin- 
ciples, its  theory  and  practice,  its  aims  and  means. 
There  are  few  of  its  principles  which  have  not  been 
censured  by  some  of  its  opponents.  But  we  have  also 
seen  that  there  is  hardly  one  principle  in  it  which  has 
not  been  heartily  recommended  by  most  distinguished 
educators,  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics.  We  have 
seen  that  on  many  lines  there  is,  at  present,  a  decided 
return  to  what  the  Jesuits  defended  and  practised  all 
along.1  Can  it  then  be  said  in  justice  that  the  Jesuit 
system  is  antiquated  and  that  little  can  be  hoped  for 
it,  and  from  its  principles,  in  the  improvement  of  edu- 
cation at  present  ?  Or  can  it  be  said  with  a  modern 
writer  that  "the  regulations  of  the  Jesuit  system  of 
studies,  viewed  in  the  light  of  modern  requirements, 
need  not  shun  any  comparison,  and  the  pedagogical 
wisdom  contained  therein,  is  in  no  way  antiquated"?2 
Another  writer  declared  a  few  years  ago,  with  reference 
to  modern  school  systems:  "Those  now  living  may 
desire  that  in  the  new  much  of  the  old  may  be  pre- 
served which  has  proved  of  benefit. ' ' 3  May  it  not  be 
said  that  much,  very  much,  of  the  Jesuit  system 
should  be  preserved,  and  that  many  of  its  principles 
and  regulations  could,  with  best  advantage,  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  education  of  the  present  day?  We  leave 

1  See  especially  chapter  XVI. 

2  See  above  p.  288. 

3  Dr.  Nohle  of  Berlin,  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Education,  1897—1898,  vol.  I,  p.  82. 

(647) 


648  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

it  to  the  impartial  reader  to  pass  judgment.  It  is  true 
that  in  our  times  Jesuit  education  is  not  viewed  with 
favor  by  the  many.  To  some  it  is  too  religious,  too 
"clerical;"  to  others  it  appears  old-fashioned.  For 
this  reason  it  is  not  popular;  popular  favor  is  never 
bestowed  on  what  seems  old.  It  is  the  novelty  that 
attracts,  and  the  bolder  the  innovations,  the  more 
captivating  for  the  large  majority  of  the  people.  This 
is  as  true  now  as  it  was  2600  years  ago  when  old 
Homer  sang: 

"For  novel  lays  attract  our  ravished  ears ; 
But  old,  the  mind  with  inattention  hears." 

And  yet  the  novel  songs  are  not  always  the  best. — 
As  to  the  Jesuits,  they  know  full  well  that  there  are 
not  many  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  investigate 
thoroughly  their  educational  system,  in  order  to  pass 
a  fair  and  independent  judgment  on  its  merit,  but  that 
there  are  many  who  will  content  themselves  with 
repeating  the  verdict  passed  on  this  system  by  others 
who  were  either  ignorant  of  its  true  character,  or  were 
misled  in  their  estimates  by  prejudice.  Hence  the 
Jesuits  do  not  expect  that  the  misrepresentations  of 
their  system  will  ever  cease;  their  experience  of  three 
hundred  years  has  taught  them  not  to  entertain  such 
sanguine  hopes.  On  the  other  hand,  this  same  ex- 
perience has  taught  them  another  valuable  lesson, 
namely,  not  to  be  disheartened  by  the  antipathy  and 
opposition  of  those  who  do  not  know  them,  but  to 
continue  their  efforts  to  realize,  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  in  the  education  of  Catholic  youth  that  which 
they  have  chosen  as  their  motto:  The  greater  glory  of 
God,  and  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men. 


APPENDIX  I. 


Additions    and    Corrections. 


CHAPTKR  I. 
Observations  on  American  Histories  of  Education.1 

In  the  course  of  the  present  book  we  have  frequently 
had  occasion  to  point  out  that  the  histories  of  educa- 
tion by  Painter,  Seeley  and  Compayre  are  utterly  un- 
trustworthy in  their  account  of  the  Jesuit  system,  and 
of  Catholic  education  in  general.  It  is  natural  to  infer 
that  in  other  respects  they  may  be  equally  unreliable. 
Professor  Cubberley,  in  his  recent  Syllabus  of  Lectures 
on  the  History  of  Education  (New  York,  Macmillan, 
1902),  says,  on  page  i,  that  the  works  of  "Painter, 
Payne,  and  Seeley  are  very  unsatisfactory,  and  are  not 
referred  to  in  the  Syllabus. "  The  same  should  have 
been  done  as  regards  Compayre;  for  his  History  of 
Pedagogy  is  as  unsatisfactory  as  those  mentioned 
before;  it  only  assumes  an  air  of  impartiality,  which 
makes  it  all  the  more  insidious.  (See  the  present 
book,  pp.  10- 1 1.)  Some  writers  quote  from  the 
Ratio  Studiorum,  but  the  quotations  are  often  mis- 
translated in  such  a  manner  that  they  are  hardly  re- 
cognizable when  compared  with  the  original.  Setting 
aside  the  disastrous  influence  which  antipathy  and 
prejudice  may  have  had  on  some  writers,  the  following 
reasons  may  account  for  many  errors.  The  Ratio 
Studiorum  is  in  many  respects  a  peculiar  document, 

1  See  also  the  interesting  article  :  "The  History  of  Edu- 
cution.  A  Plea  for  the  Study  of  Original  Sources,"  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Turner,  D.  D.,  in  the  new  and  promising  Review  of 
Catholic  Pedagogy,  January,  1903. 

(649) 


650  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

which  is  unintelligible  unless  one  is  acquainted  with 
the  L,atin  terminology  of  scholastic  philosophy  and 
theology,  and  there  are  exceedingly  few  non-Catholic 
writers  on  education  who  possess  this  knowledge. 
Further,  numerous  regulations  of  the  Ratio  are  clear 
only  when  explained  by  other  documents  of  the  Society, 
which  have  either  not  been  known,  or  not  been  exam- 
ined by  these  writers.  Another  difficulty  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  Ratio  contains  also  the  reg- 
ulations for  the  studies  of  the  members  of  the  Society. 
Some  writers  have  confounded  rules  for  the  novices 
and  scholastics  of  the  Order  with  regulations  for  the 
lay  pupils  in  the  colleges.  Thus  what  is  said  in  the 
Constitutions  of  the  Society  about  the  obedience  to  be 
rendered  to  Superiors  by  the  Jesuits  themselves,  Mr. 
Painter  has  applied  to  the  lay  students.  (Hist,  of  Ed., 
p.  170.)  Evidently  an  entirely  false  impression  must 
be  produced  by  such  confusion. 

However,  in  most  cases  it  is  almost  certain  that 
these  writers  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  examine 
the  Ratio  Studiorum,  but  have  contented  them- 
selves with  copying  the  assertions  of  untrustworthy 
secondary  authorities.  Raumer's  History  of  Education 
seems  still  to  be  considered  by  some  a  reliable  source. 
Even  Professor  Cubberley  styles  it  "still  quite  valu- 
able" (L  c.).  And  yet  this  work  is  altogether  anti- 
quated. Besides,  in  regard  to  Catholic  education  it  is 
so  biased  that  fair-minded  Protestants  have  rejected 
many  parts  of  it.  Thus  Henry  Barnard,  in  his  trans- 
lation of  the  chapter  on  the  Jesuit  schools,  says  :  "We 
omit  in  this  place  as  well  as  towards  the  close  of  the 
article,  .several  passages  of  Raumer's  chapter  on  the 
Jesuits,  in  which  he  discusses,  from  the  extreme  Prot- 


APPENDIX   I.  651 

estant  stand-point,  the  influence  of  the  confessional, 
and  the  principles  of  what  he  calls  'Jesuitical'  morality. 
These  topics,  and  especially  when  handled  in  a  parti- 
san spirit,  are  more  appropriate  to  a  theological  and 
controversial,  than  to  an  educational  journal.  The 
past  as  well  as  the  present  organization  of  the  schools 
of  the  Jesuits,  the  course  of  instruction,  the  methods 
of  teaching  and  discipline,  are  worthy  of  profound 
study  by  teachers  and  educators,  who  would  profit  by 
the  experience  of  wise  and  learned  men. ' '  (American 
Journal  of  Education,  vol.  V,  p.  215.)  However,  even 
in  the  statements  which  Barnard  accepted  from 
Raumer,  there  are  not  a  few  that  are  incorrect.  Owing 
to  protests  of  Raumer,  Barnard,  in  the  VI.  volume  of 
his  journal,  added  the  passages  which  he  had  omitted 
in  the  previous  translation.  The  misrepresentations 
which  Raumer  had  borrowed  from  Pascal  and  others, 
need  not  be  dwelt  on  here. 

Nor  is  the  estimate  of  the  Jesuit  system  correct 
which  is  found  in  the  History  of  Modern  Education, 
by  Samuel  H.  Williams,  Professor  of  the  Science  and 
Art  of  Teaching,  in  Cornell  University.  The  author 
evidently  endeavored  at  times  to  be  impartial,  but  he 
was  not  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  his  sources.  They 
were  evidently  not  the  original  documents.  Otherwise 
he  would  not  have  been  betrayed  into  such  absurd 
statements  as  this:  ''The  teachers  were  mostly  novices 
of  the  Order,  with  a  much  smaller  number  of  the  fully 
professed  brothers."  Now,  as  the  chapter  on  the 
"Training  of  the  Jesuit  Teacher"  proves,  novices  are 
not  employed  in  teaching,  and  the  Jesuit  is  not  en- 
gaged in  teaching  until  after  a  training  of  five  or  six 
years  succeeding  the  completion  of  the  novitiate.  The 


652  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

expression  *  'fully  professed  brothers,"  also,  shows  that 
this  author  knows  very  little  about  Jesuit  teachers. 

Mr.  Shoup,  in  his  History  and  Science  of  Education , 
admits  many  good  features  in  the  Jesuit  system ;  he 
expressly  states  that  it  has  many  points  in  common 
with  American  methods,  but  then  his  authorities  lead 
him  away  into  the  old  tirades  of  "neglecting  mathe- 
matics, sciences,  practical  knowledge;  suppressing  of 
independent  thought,"  etc. 

We  gladly  acknowledge  that  the  latest  American 
book  on  the  subject,  Mr.  Kemp's  History  of  Education 
(lyippincott,  1902),  is,  in  point  of  impartiality,  superior 
to  most  other  works.  On  the  whole,  it  is  free  from 
offensive  attacks  on  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
education.  However,  we  must  say  that  it  is  not  free 
from  assertions  which  cannot  stand  in  the  light  of 
modern  historical  research.  Particularly  in  chapter 
XV,  many  statements  need  considerable  correction, 
v.  g.,  the  assertion  that  before  the  Reformation  "the 
large  majority  of  the  people  felt  no  need  of  edu- 
cation and  took  little  interest  in  it. ' '  With  this  should 
be  compared  the  authors  from  whom  we  quoted  on 
p.  23  sqq.  On  p.  172,  Mr.  Kemp  repeats  Green's 
assertions  about  the  Grammar  schools  founded  by 
Henry  VIII.  But  Mr.  Arthur  P.  L,each  has  proved, 
from  incontestable  documents,  that  this  is  a  pure  myth, 
and  that  the  statements  of  Green  and  Mullinger  are  a 
distortion  of  the  historical  facts.  In  his  English 
Schools  at  the  Reformation  (Westminster,  Archibald 
Constable,  1896),  Mr.  L,each  says:  "The  records  ap- 
pended to  this  book  show  that  close  on  200  Grammar 
[secondary]  schools  existed  in  England  before  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI.,  which  were,  for  the  most  part, 


APPENDIX   I.  653 

abolished  or  crippled  under  him.  ...  It  will  appear, 
however,  that  these  records  are  defective  ....  three 
hundred  Grammar  schools  is  a  moderate  estimate  of 
the  number  in  the  year  1535,  when  the  floods  of  the 
great  revolution  were  let  loose.  Most  of  them  were 
swept  away  either  under  Henry  or  his  son;  or  if  not 
swept  away,  they  were  plundered  and  damaged" 
(pp.  5 — 6).  Of  the  character  of  these  schools  the 
author  says  that  they  were  not  mere  "monkish" 
schools,  but  secondary  schools  of  exactly  the  same 
type  as  the  secondary  schools  of  the  present  day. 
Considering  the  population  of  Kngland  at  the  time, 
there  were  previous  to  the  Reformation  more  higher 
schools  in  England  than  at  present;  in  Herefordshire, 
v.  g. ,  17  higher  schools  for  a  population  of  30,000! 
Nearly  every  town  had  a  higher  school.  (/&•,  99 — 
loo.)  Mr.  L,each  confesses  that  his  researches  re- 
volutionize the  traditional  view  of  pre- Reformation 
schools  in  England,  and  that  on  this  account  his  book 
was  looked  upon  unfavorably  by  some  people.  —  We 
call  attention  to  these  facts,  because  they  show  how 
the  current  tradition  has  influenced  men  who  earnestly 
endeavor  to  be  impartial.  Had  all  American  writers 
been  animated  by  the  spirit  of  fair-mindedness  and 
zeal  for  correct  information  which  distinguished  that 
excellent  American  educator,  and  first  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  Henry  Barnard,  the  cause  of  truth 
and  justice  would  have  been  better  served  in  this 
country. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life. 

What  is  said  on  pp.  31 — 34  about  the  Brethren, 
must  partly  be  corrected.     Recent  investigations  have 


654  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

proved  that  they  were  not,  as  Raumer  had  represented 
them,  an  order  of  teachers  like  the  Jesuits.  They 
taught,  indeed,  in  a  few  schools,  as  in  that  of  Liege; 
but  in  most  schools  with  which  they  were  connected, 
they  received  boarders  and  looked  chiefly  after  their 
moral  and  religious  training,  while  the  secular  instruc- 
tion was  in  the  hands  of  other  teachers,  who,  how- 
ever, were  mostly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Brethren.  See  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  g.  [/.,  2nd  ed. , 
vol.  I,  pp.  158-160,  where  this  author  modifies,  in  the 
same  way,  the  statements  expressed  in  the  first  edition 
of  his  work.  Further  see  the  recent  valuable  work 
on  Jakob  Wimpfeling,  by  Dr.  Knepper  (Herder,  1902), 
page  7. 

CHAPTERS  V  AND  VII. 

Jesuit  Scholars. 

CHAPTER  V,  p.  156.  —  The  importance  of  Father 
Saccheri's  work  is  being  recognized  more  and  more. 
Professor  Ricci  of  Padua  contributed  a  highly  interest- 
ing article  to  the  Jahresbericht  der  mathematischen  Ver- 
bindung  (Vol.  XI,  October — December  1902),  on  the 
"Origin  and  Development  of  the  Modern  Conception  of 
the  Foundations  of  Geometry. "  There  it  is  said  that 
"Saccheri's  works  prove  him  a  man  of  indisputable 
merit,  and  one  of  the  first  geometricians  of  his  cen- 
tury. .  .  .  The  Euclides  vindicatus  alone  is  a  work 
which  could  claim  the  labors  of  a  whole  life.  In  this 
work  he  erects  an  edifice  of  classical  beauty  which 
testifies  to  the  extraordinary  ability  and  geometrical 
taste  of  the  architect. ' '  It  is  a  perplexing  problem  to 
modern  mathematicians  how  Saccheri  could  endeavor 
to  refute  his  own  arguments,  with  which  he  had  so 
ably  attacked  the  Euclidian  system.  Of  this  attempt 


APPENDIX    I.  655 

Professor  Ricci  says:  "To-day  it  is  hard  to  understand 
that  a  man  of  so  sublime  an  intellect  did  not  see  the 
truth  which  he  almost  could  grasp  with  his  hands, 
and  that  he  stubbornly  tried  to  destroy  with  sophisms 
what  he  had  built  up  with  so  much  correct  geometrical 
skill.  Able  and  sagacious  as  he  is  in  constructing  his 
system,  he  is  awkward  and  unskilful  in  tearing  it 
down. "  —  If  for  once  I  may  be  allowed  to  venture  a 
conjecture,  I  would  ask:  Is  it  not  possible  that  Sac- 
cheri  did  grasp  the  truth,  but  did  not  think  fit  to 
publish  it  boldly  ?  He  may  have  feared  lest  his  con- 
temporaries would  raise  a  cry  of  indignation  against 
such  a  mathematical  heresy.  Besides,  as  at  that  time 
such  hypotheses  would  have  been  looked  upon  as 
mere  freaks,  there  may  have  been  apprehensions  that 
the  publication  of  such  a  work  would  injure  the  repu- 
tation of  the  college  in  which  Saccheri  taught  mathe- 
matics. The  attacks  on  the  Jesuits  on  account  of  the 
bold  theories  of  Hardouin  (seep.  160),  and  similar  in- 
stances in  which  the  whole  Society  was  reprehended 
for  the  attitude  of  individuals,  would  have  been  a 
sufficient  cause  for  the  wariness  of  the  author.  If  this 
explanation  were  the  correct  one,  it  would  certainly 
account  for  the  weakness  of  the  arguments  which  he 
used  to  pull  down  his  splendid  structure.  These  ar- 
guments, accordingly,  would  have  been  merely  a  thin 
veil  to  hide  the  purport  of  his  work.  I  communicated 
this  conjecture  to  Father  Hagen  of  Georgetown,  and 
was  surprised  to  learn  that  this  distinguished  mathe- 
matician had  given  the  same  explanation  of  the  curious 
phenomenon  to  Professor  Halsted  of  the  University  of 
Texas,  the  translator  of  Father  Saccheri's  works. 
However,  this  is  only  a  conjecture,  though  not  void  of 


656  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

probability.  But  even  if  the  author  did  not  see  the 
full  truth  of  his  deductions  at  the  time,  this  has  hap- 
pened to  many  great  discoverers.  Professor  Whewell 
says  of  Kepler,  with  reference  to  a  similar  instance, 
that  it  seems  strange  that  he  did  not  fully  succeed; 
"but  this  lot  of  missing  what  afterwards  seems  to  have 
been  obvious,  is  a  common  one  in  the  pursuit  of 
truth."  (History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  vol.  II, 
p.  56.  Appleton's  ed. ,  1859.) 

CHAPTER  VII.  —  Among  the  Jesuit  scholars  of  the 
last  decades  mention  should  have  been  made  of  the 
sinologist  Father  Angelo  Zottoli,  who  died  in  the  Col- 
lege of  Zi-ka-wei,  near  Shanghai,  November  9,  1902. 
In  1876,  Baron  von  Richthofen,  in  his  work  on  China, 
expressed  his  regret  that  the  Jesuit  missionaries  of 
recent  times  had  not  succeeded  in  regaining  the  scien- 
tific prestige  of  the  Old  Society.  But  a  few  years  after, 
in  1879,  the  first  volumes  of  a  work  appeared  which  in- 
augurated a  new  period  in  the  scientific  activity  of  the 
Jesuits  in  China.  This  was  Father  Zottoli 's  Cursus 
Literaturae  Sinicae.  When  the  work  had  been  com- 
pleted in  five  volumes,  it  put  the  humble  religious  in 
the  front  rank  of  sinologists.  It  has  been  styled  "a 
landmark  in  the  history  of  Chinese  philology,"  and 
received  the  great  prize  of  the  Academic  des  Inscriptions 
et  des  belles  Lettres.  Mr.  Legge,  formerly  a  Protestant 
missionary  in  China,  and  one  of  the  foremost  sinolo- 
gists of  our  age,  declares  that  in  Father  Zottoli 's 
Cursus  "the  scholarship  of  the  earlier  Jesuit  mission- 
aries has  revived."  (In  vol.  XXVII  of  the  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  Preface,  p.  XIII.)  In  Father  Zot- 
toli's  school  some  able  Jesuit  sinologists  were  trained, 
who  now  publish  their  researches  in  a  special  review, 


'    APPENDIX   I.  657 

the  VarUtes  Sinologiques,  whose  scholarly  character 
has  been  frequently  attested  to  by  the  foremost 
orientalists.  Father  Zottoli  was  engaged  for  thirty 
years  in  writing  a  gigantic  Chinese  dictionary.  The 
ablest  of  his  pupils  are  now  completing  this  work. 
(See  Kolnische  Volkszeitung ,  Wochenausgabe,  Jan- 
uary i,  1903.) 

Some  readers  may  be  surprised  at  the  list  of  Jesuit 
writers  —  we  have  enumerated  only  a  small  fraction 
of  the  number  of  scholars  that  well  deserve  to  be  known 
better  than  is  the  case  — ,  and  ask  why  so  little  is  said 
about  them  in  works  that  treat  of  the  history  of  the 
various  sciences.  It  is  not  because  their  works  are  not 
of  great  importance  for  science.  The  explanation  may 
be  found  in  a  remarkable  utterance  of  the  celebrated 
Kepler,  the  prince  of  astronomers:  "Alas  for 
prejudice  and  hatred !  If  a  Jesuit  writes  anything,  it 
is  completely  ignored  by  the  adherents  of  Scaliger. ' ' 
Allusion  is  made  to  the  famous  controversy  on  chrono- 
logy between  the  Protestant  Scaliger  and  the  Jesuit 
Petavius  (see  page  160).  The  same  may  be  said  of 
many  another  scientific  discussion.  Kepler  himself, 
though  a  Protestant,  was  not  afraid  of  being  a  friend 
of  Jesuit  scholars,  nor  of  asking  their  opinion  on  many 
of  the  important  questions  which  he  was  investigating. 
(See  Johann  Kepler,  der  Gesetzgeber  der  neueren  Astro- 
nomie,  by  Adolph  Miiller,  S.  J. ,  Professor  of  astronomy 
in  the  Gregorian  University  in  Rome  [Herder,  1903]  ; 
see  especially  chapters  12  and  17,  and  page  166. ) 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Recent  Educational  Troubles  in  France. 
On  page  265  it  is  said  that  the  non-Catholic  view 

of  the  Jesuits  is  not   based  on   historical  facts,  but 
42 


658  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

largely  on  works  of  fiction.  A  case  in  point  is  Zola's 
posthumous  novel,  the  English  edition  of  which  was 
issued  in  this  country  in  February,  1903.  The  subject 
of  this  work  was  announced  as  " illustrating  the  keenly 
antagonistic  influences  of  the  Jesuitical  and  secular 
parties  in  France,  as  instanced  in  the  recent  educa- 
tional troubles. ' '  Though  the  book  is  styled  '  'Truth, ' ' 
it  is  in  reality  a  tissue  of  falsehoods  and  enormous 
charges,  not  only  against  the  religious  orders,  but  the 
Catholic  Church  as  such.  The  Baltimore  Sun,  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1903,  says  in  a  very  judicious  criticism,  that 
the  author  *  'asserts  and  asserts,  but,  behold!  of  proof 
there  is  little  or  nothing.  This,  however,  will  make 
no  difference  to  those  readers  to  whom  this  diatribe 
appeals  [among  them  the  same  paper  reckons  those 
who  hate  the  Catholic  Church,  and  who  welcome 
any  attack  that  may  be  made  upon  it].  In  the  present 
instance  Zola  has,  seemingly,  cared  little  about  the 
truth  of  his  statements. ' '  The  book  furnishes  a  strong 
proof  of  what  we  said  on  page  268,  namely,  that  the 
present  persecution  of  the  teaching  Congregations  in 
France  is  in  reality  a  brutal  attack  on  Christianity  and 
all  religion.  Zola  says  little  about  Jesuit  education, 
but  what  is  meant  by  secular  education,  is  set  forth  in 
clearest  light :  All  religious  beliefs  and  observances 
are  derided,  every  sign  of  religion  is  to  be  banished 
from  the  school,  women  are  to  be  emancipated  from 
the  influence  of  the  Church,  experimental  science  is 
to  take  the  place  of  religion  in  school  and  private  life. 
It  is  the  old  Voltairian  Ecrasez  I'infdmel  This  is  the 
antagonist  of  ''Jesuitical"  education!  (On  this  sub- 
ject see  the  article  of  M.  Brunetiere,  in  the  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,  December  15,  1902:  "The  Laws  of  Pro- 


APPENDIX   I.  659 

scription  in  France,"  translated  in  the  Catholic  Mind, 
New  York,  1903,  no.  2). 

For  the  Catholic  view  of  the  educational  movement 
in  France  during  the  last  decade  we  refer  to  the  Etudes, 
which  contain  many  excellent  articles  not  only  on  the 
religious  side  of  the  question,  but  also  on  modern 
school  reforms,  the  classics,  etc.  See  especially  vol- 
umes 54  (page  100  sqq.),  57  (page  345  sqq.)9  69  (page 
224  sqq.),  70  (page  496  *qq.),  78  (page  21  sqq.)y  79 
(page  41  sqq.),  84  (page  654  sqq.),  86  (page  29  sqq. 
and  501  sqq.).  In  the  volume  mentioned  in  the  last 
place,  the  article  :  L' Enseignement  classique  en  Alle- 
magne,  son  role  pedagogique,  contains  interesting  com- 
parisons between  the  French  and  German  secondary 
schools. 

CHAPTERS  X— XII. 
"Impressions  of  American  Education." 

Under  the  above  title,  the  Educational  Review 
(March,  1903)  published  an  address  delivered  by 
Mr.  Sadler,  at  the  Annual  Congress  of  the  Educational 
Institute,  Glasgow,  Scotland,  December  30,  1902. 
Mr.  Sadler  admires  many  features  in  American  educa- 
tion: the  hearty  belief  of  Americans  in  the  value  of 
education,  the  sacrifices  they  make  for  it,  etc.  But  he 
discovers  also  the  following  defects  and  weaknesses: 

1)  In  some  cases  municipal  corruption  has  baleful 
results   in   the   sphere  of  educational  administration. 

2)  There  is  a  grave  doubt  whether  the  stricter  forms 
of  intellectual  discipline  have  not  been  unduly  sacri- 
ficed in  many  American  schools.     The  besetting  sin 
of  some  modern  methods  of  education  is  that  they 
stimulate  interest  without  laying  corresponding  stress 


660  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

on  intellectual  discipline.  As  it  were,  they  feed  the 
children  on  sweeties  and  plumcake,  in  a  strenuous 
revolt  against  an  austere  tradition  of  too  much  oat- 
meal porridge.  Nor  does  home  discipline  restore  the 
balance.  The  younger  Americans  find  it  difficult  to 
focus  their  attention  on  uncongenial  tasks.  An  in- 
sidious evil  is  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  teachers  to 
make  lessons  interesting  by  avoiding  the  harder,  dul- 
ler, and  more  disciplinary  parts  of  the  subjects.  An- 
other evil  is  the  excessive  encouraging,  among  young 
children,  of  what  is  called  *  'self-realization",  even 
occasionally  to  the  point  of  impertinence.  3)  Lack  of 
severe  discipline  leads  to  a  third  weakness,  —  super- 
ficiality,—  with  its  attendant  evils,  exaggeration  in 
language  and  love  of  excitement.  The  Americans  do 
not  as  yet  sufficiently  allow  for  the  slow  percolation  of 
ideas  into  the  mind.  They  make  too  many  short  cuts. 
They  are  too  fond  of  the  last  new  thing.  They  forget 
that  a  pupil  gains  true  independence  of  taste  and 
judgment  by  slowly  and  thoroughly  working  his  way, 
under  guidance  and  with  encouragement,  through 
masterpieces  as  a  whole,  and  through  masses  of  the 
same  kind  of  work,  often  against  the  grain.  All  true 
culture  has  in  it  an  element  of  stubbornness  and  per- 
sistence, which  must  be  acquired  through  the  lessons 
of  life,  and  the  lessons  of  the  school,  which  ought  to 
prepare  for  life.  4)  A  fourth  danger  proceeds  from 
the  tendency  of  American  men  to  become  unduly  con- 
centrated in  business  pursuits.  Many  Americans 
sterilize  part  of  their  nature  by  too  great  absorption  in 
the  excitement  and  struggles  of  commercial  competi- 
tion. This  overzeal  for  business  forms  an  atmosphere 
which  cannot  but  affect  educational  ideals.  Intense 


APPKNDIX   I.  66 1 

absorption  in  commercial  enterprise  is  not  an  aim 
worthy  to  dominate  the  thoughts  and  lives  of  the  ris- 
ing generation  of  a  great  people.  The  noble  answer 
of  the  Short  Catechism  to  the  question:  "What  is  the 
chief  end  of  man?",  deserves  not  to  be  forgotten  in 
commercial  pursuits. 

It  may  be  well  to  compare  these  statements  with 
what  has  been  said  in  the  chapters  on  the  "Intellectual 
Scope,"  "Prescribed  Courses  or  Elective  Studies," 
and  "Classical  Studies". 


APPENDIX  II. 


Bibliography. 

i.     Primary  Sources. 

The  Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Numerous 
editions  in  Latin.  The  English  translation, 
published  by  a  Protestant  in  1838  (London, 
Rivington,  etc.),  is  very  unscholarly  und  un- 
reliable.—  The  fourth  part  of  the  Constitutions, 
which  treats  of  the  studies,  is  given  in  Latin 
and  German  in  the  work  of  Father  Pachtler 
quoted  further  on  (vol.  I,  pp.  9 — 69). 

Deer  eta  Congregationum  Generalium.  (Decrees  of  the 
General  Congregations  of  the  Society.)  The 
General  Congregation  is  the  legislative  assembly 
of  the  Order;  the  decrees  of  different  Congrega- 
tions relating  to  studies  are  contained  in  Father 
Pachtler 's  work,  vol.  I,  pp.  70 — 125. 

Ratio  atque  Institutio  Studiorum  Societatis  Jesu,  usually 
quoted  as  Ratio  Studiorum.  Latin  text  and 
German  translation  in  Pachtler 's  vol.  II,  and 
German  translation  in  Father  Duhr's  Studien- 
ordnung. 

Pachtler,  G.  M. ,  S.  J.  Ratio  Studiorum  et  Institutions 
Scholasticae  Societatis  Jesu  per  Germaniam  olim 
vigentes.  Berlin,  Hofmann,  1887 — 1894.  Vol- 
umes II,  V,  IX,  and  XVI  of  the  great  collection 
(662) 


APPENDIX   II.  663 

Monumenta   Germaniae   Paedagogica,    edited  by 
Dr.  Karl  Kehrbach. 

This  is  the  standard  work  on  the  educational  sys- 
tem of  the  Jesuits  ;  it  contains  all  the  most  important 
historical  documents  relating  to  Jesuit  education, 
particularly  in  Germany.  The  great  value  of  the 
work  has  been  acknowledged  by  numerous  historians 
and  writers  on  pedagogy.  (We  quote:  Pachtler,  I, 
II,  III,  IV.) 

Monumenta  Historica  Societatis  Jesu,  Madrid,  1894  foil. 
A  huge  collection  of  material  relating  to  the  early 
history  of  the  Society.  Published  since  1894  in 
monthly  instalments  of  160  pages  each ;  up  to  Feb- 
ruary 1903  there  were  out  110  instalments.  The  col- 
lection is  a  most  valuable  source  of  information  for 
the  history  of  religion  and  education  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Of  particular  importance  for  the  history  of 
Jesuit  education  are  instalments  93,  97,  99,  100,  101, 
194,  entitled : 

Monumenta  Paedagogica,  Madrid,  1901 — 1902. 

To  be  carefully  distinguished  from  Father  Pachtler's 
volumes  in  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  Paedagogica. 

The  following  works  are  important  commentaries  on 
the  Ratio  Studiorum: 

Sacchini,  F.,  S.  J.,  Paraenesis  ad  Magistros  Scholarum 
Inferiorum  Societatis  Jesu,  and  Protrepticon  ad 
Magistros  Scholarum  Inferiorum  Societatis  Jesu 
(1625).  — German  translation  by  J.  Stier,  S.  J., 
in  Herder's  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Pddagogikj 
1898,  vol.  X,  pp.  1—185. 

Jouvancy,  J.,  S.  J.,  Ratio  Discendi  et  Docendi  (1703). 
Of  this  important  educational  work  (see  above 
pp.  434 — 435)  there  exist  eighteen  editions  in 
the  original  I/atin,  a  French  translation  by  J. 
L,efortier,  Paris  1803,  and  a  recent  German  trans- 


664  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

lation:  Lern-  und  Lehrmethode,  by  R.  Schwicke- 
rath,  S.  J.,  in  Herder's  Bibliothek,  etc.,  1898, 
vol.  X,  pp.  207 — 322. 

Kropf,  F.  X.,  S.  J.,  Ratio  et  Via  Recte  atque  Ordine 
Procedendi  in  Literis  Humanioribus  Aetati  Tenerae 
Tradendis  (1736).  German  translation:  Gym- 
nasial-Padagogik,  by  F.  Zorell,  S.  J. ,  in  Herder's 
Bibliothek,  vol.  X,  pp.  323 — 466.  (We  quote 
Kropf,  Ratio  et  Via.) 

2.     Works  Treating  Exclusively  of  Jesuit  Education. 

Hughes,  T.,  S.  J.,  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System 
of  the  Jesuits.  New  York,  Scribners,  1892. — 
Belongs  to  the  Great  Educators  Series,  edited 
by  Nicholas  Murray  Butler. 

Duhr,  B.,  S.  J.,  Die  Studienordnung  der  Gesellschaft 
Jesu.  —  Freiburg  (Germany)  and  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  1896.- 

Contains  the  translation  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum 
(both  of  1599  and  of  1832),  and  a  valuable  commentary. 
Father  Duhr's  work  is  volume  IX  of  Herder's  Biblio- 
thek der  katholischen  Padagogik. 

Maynard,  Abbe,  The  Studies  and  Teaching  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  at  the  Time  of  its  Suppression. 
Translated  from  the  French.  Baltimore,  John 
Murphy,  1855. 

De  Rochemonteix,  C.,  S.  J.,  Un  College  de  Jesuites  aux 
XVII.  et  XVIII.  siecles.  Le  College  Henri  IV. 
de  la  Fleche.  4  volumes.  Le  Mans,  Legui- 
cheux,  1889.  — 

This  work  gives  the  history  of  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  colleges  of  the  Society  in  France;  from 
detailed  descriptions  based  on  documentary  evidence, 
one  can  learn  how  the  Ratio  Studiorum  was  carried 
into  practice. 


APPENDIX   II.  665 

Chossat,  M.,  S.  J.,  Les  Jesuites  et  leurs  oeuvres  a  Avig- 
non, 1553 — 1768.  Avignon,  Seguin,  1896. 

This  work,  like  the  preceding,  furnishes  interesting 
details  about  the  working  of  the  Jesuit  system. 

De  Badts  de  Cugnac,  A.,  Les  Jesuites  et  V education. 
Iville,  Desclee,  1879. 

3.     Works  Having  Particular  Reference  to  Jesuit 
Education. 

Paulsen,  F. ,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  auf  den 
deutschen  Schulen  und  Universitaten  vom  Aus- 
gang  des  Mittelalters  bis  zur  Gegenwart.  L,eipsic, 
Veit  and  Co.,  1885;  second  edition  in  two 
volumes,  1896 — 1897. 

Dr.  Paulsen  is  one  of  the  leading  Professors  of  the 
University  of  Berlin.  Of  the  present  work  the  Report 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  (1896 — 1897,  I,  p. 
199)  says:  "It  is  a  most  thorough  historical  review 
of  higher  education  known  in  the  educational  litera- 
ture of  any  country."  The  chapter  on  the  colleges  of 
the  Society  and  the  educational  labors  of  the  Jesuits 
(vol.  1,  pp.  379 — 432)  is  far  more  thorough,  more  in- 
dependent, and  more  impartial,  than  most  books 
written  on  the  Jesuits  by  non-Catholics. 

Schmid,  K.  A. ,  Geschichte  der  Erziehung  vom  Anfang 
bis  auf  unsere  Zeit.  5  volumes  in  10  parts,  by 
a  number  of  scholars  and  educators.  Stuttgart, 
Cotta,  1884 — 1901  (Part  3  of  volume  V,  which 
will  complete  this  great  history  of  education,  is 
not  yet  out). 

On  Jesuit  education  see  volume  III,  Abteilung  1, 
pp.  1 — 109  (by  Prof.  Dr.  Miiller  of  Dresden);  pp.  159— 
175  ("Jesuit  Colleges  in  France,"  by  Dr.  E.  von  Sall- 
wiirk,  Karlsruhe). — Volume  IV,  Abteilung  1,  pp. 
455—467 ;  538—543.  —  Volume  V,  Abteilung  2,  pp. 
176— 221  ("Jesuit  Education  since  1600;  Suppression 


666  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

and  Restoration  of  the  Society;  the  Revised  Ratio- 
Studiorum,"  by  Dr.  von  Sallwurk).  — The  articles 
on  the  Jesuit  schools  are  not  free  from  some  serious 
misinterpretations  of  the  Ratio  Studiorum.  Especi- 
ally Dr.  Miiller  has  misunderstood  and  rendered 
falsely  several  passages.  In  other  cases,  he  applies 
to  the  secular  students  of  Jesuit  Colleges  rules  which 
are  only  for  the  younger  members  of  the  Society  en- 
gaged in  studies  (scholastics). 

Ziegler,  T. ,  Geschichte  der  Pddagogik.  Munich,  Beck, 
1895.  Is  part  i,  of  vol.  I  of  the  Handbuch  der 
Erziehungs-  und  Unterrichtslehre  fur  hohere 
Schulen,  edited  by  Dr.  A.  Baumeister. 

Dr.  Ziegler,  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Pedagogy 
in  the  University  of  Strasburg,  is  a  prominent  writer 
on  education  in  Germany.  In  point  of  impartiality 
he  is  inferior  to  Professor  Paulsen. 

Willmann,  O.,  Didaktik  als  Bildungslehre.  2  volumes, 
Braunschweig,  Vieweg,  second  edition,  1894. 

The  author,  a  pupil  of  Herbart,  became  a  Catholic, 
and  is  now  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Pedagogy  in 
the  University  of  Prague,  and  one  of  the  ablest  edu- 
cational writers  in  the  German  tongue.  His  Didaktik 
is  one  of  the  most  important  pedagogical  works 
published  within  the  last  decades. 

Quick,  H.,  Educational  Reformers.  I/ondon,  lyong- 
mans,  Green  and  Co.,  1868.  The  revised  edi- 
tion forms  part  of  the  International  Education 
Series,  New  York,  Appleton,  1890. 

Jourdain,  C.,  Histoire  de  ('  Universite  de  Paris  aux  17 e 
et  18 e  slides.     2  volumes.     Paris,  Didot,   1888. 
A  very  valuable  work ;    gives  an   account  of  the 
struggles  of  the  Jesuits  with  the  University. 

Duhr,  B.,  S.  J.,  Jesuitenfabeln  (Jesuit  myths).  Frei- 
burg and  St.  I/ouis,  Herder,  3.  edition,  1899. 

To  this  work  readers  must  be  referred  who  wish  to 
see  the  absurdity  of  most  legends  about  the  Jesuits, 


APPENDIX   II.  667 

The  book  has,  in  the  words  of  a  uon-Catholic  review, 
"done  away  with  a  heap  of  calumnies  against  the 
Order.'*  (Literarisches  Centralblatt,  Leipzig,  1899.) 

Du  Lac,  S.  J.,  Jesuites.    Paris,  Librairie  Plon,  1901. 

Huber,  J.,  Der  Jesuiten-Orden.     Berlin,  Habel,   1873. 

Janssen,  J.,  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes  seit  dem 
Ausgang  des  Mittelalters.  8  volumes.  Herder, 
Freiburg  and  St.  Louis.  The  edition  used  is 
the  1 8th  of  the  first  three  volumes  ( 1 897 — 1 899) ; 
i6th  of  vols.  IV  and  VI;  Hth  of  vol.  V; 
1 2th  of  vols.  VII  and  VIII.  The  first  three 
volumes  have  been  translated  into  English: 
*  History  of  the  German  People  at  the  Close  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  by  M.  A.  Mitchell  and  A.  M.  Christie. 
6  volumes.  London,  Kegan  Paul,  1896,  1900, 
1903,  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Herder. 

It  is  superfluous  to  comment  on  this  famous  work. 
No  historical  work  of  the  19th  century  caused  such  a 
stir  all  over  Kurope  as  the  history  of  the  Reforma- 
tion period  written  by  Janssen  from  the  testimony  of 
the  Reformers  and  their  contemporaries.  Unfortun- 
ately the  greater  part  of  Dr.  Jaussen's  illustrative 
notes,  in  which  the  chief  value  of  the  work  consists, 
are  missing  in  the  English  version.  Besides,  it  is  not 
free  from  mistranslations ;  hence  the  German  original 
ought  to  be  consulted. — Jesuit  education  is  chiefly 
treated  in  volumes  IV,  V  and  VII. 

4.     Miscellaneous  Works. 

Butler,  N.  M. ,  Education  in  the  United  States.  A 
Series  of  Monograms  prepared  for  the  United 
States  Exhibit  at  the  Paris  Exposition,  1900. 
Edited  by  Nicholas  Murray  Butler.  Albany, 
J.  B.  Lyon  Company,  1900. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  Idea  of  a  University,  and  Historical 
Sketches.  London  and  New  York,  Longmans. 


668  JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 

Russell,  J.  E. ,  German  Higher  Schools.  New  York, 
Longmans,  1899. 

Gives  a  good  account  of  the  German  Gymnasium, 
its  history,  organization  and  practical  working. 

The  Life  of  James  McCosh.  A  Record  Chiefly  Auto- 
biographical. Edited  by  W.  M.  Sloane.  New 
York,  Scribners,  1897. 

The  life  of  the  President  of  Princeton  College  is 
deserving  of  the  careful  study  of  all  American 
teachers. 

P'itch,  Sir  Joshua,  Thomas  and  Matthew  Arnold  and 
their  Influence  on  English  Education.  New  York, 
Scribners,  1897.  (Great  Educators  Series.) 

Alzog,  J.,  Manual  of  Universal  Church  History.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  Dr.  Pabisch  and 
Professor  Byrne.  3  volumes.  Cincinnati, 
Clarke,  1878. 

Pastor,  Iy. ,  The  History  of  the  Popes  from  the  Close  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  Edited  by  F.  I.  Antrobus. 
6  volumes.  London,  John  Hodges  and  Kegan 
Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  and  Co.,  1891  foil.,  and 
Herder,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  The  original  German 
edition  in  3  volumes,  Herder,  Freiburg  and 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Guggenberger,  A. ,  S.  J.,  A  General  History  of  the 
Christian  Era.  3  volumes.  St.  Louis,  Herder, 
1900 — 1901. 

Rashdall,  H. ,  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  2  volumes  in  3  parts.  Oxford,  1895. 

Drane,  A.  T. ,  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars,  or 
Sketches  of  Education  from  the  Christian  Era  to 
the  Council  of  Trent.  2  volumes.  London, 
Longmans,  1867. 

Popularly  written  ;  in  many  parts  antiquated. 


APPENDIX   II.  669 

Taylor,  H.  O. ,  The  Classical  Heritage  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  New  York,  Columbia  University  Press 
(Macmillan),  1900. 

Einstein,  L,. ,  The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England.  New 
York,  Columbia  University  Press,  1902. 

Woodward,  W.  H.,  Vittorino  da  Feltre  and  other 
Humanist  Educators.  Cambridge,  University 
Press,  1897. 

Gasquet,  F.  A.,  O.  S.  B.,  The  Eve  of  the  Reformation. 
London  and  New  York,  1900. 

Baumgartner,  A.,  S.  J.,  Geschichte  der  Weltliteratur. 
Herder,  1897 — 1900. 

Of  this  magnificent  history  of  Universal  Literature 
four  volumes  are  out  so  far.  Volumes  III  and  IV 
were  used  chiefly.  (On  this  great  work  see  pp. 
233—234.) 

Nagelsbach,  C.  F.,  Gymnasial  -  Pddagogik.  Third 
edition,  Erlangen,  1879. 

Dettweiler,  P.,  Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  Lateinischen. 
Munich,  Beck,  1895. 

Didaktik  und  Methodik  des  Griechischen.  Munich, 

Beck,  1898. 

These  two  excellent  books  belong  to  Baumeister's 
Handbuch  der  Erziehungs-  und  Unterrichtslehre . 

Schiller,  H.,  Handbuch  der  praktischen  Pddagogik  filr 
hohere  Lehranstalten.  Leipsic,  Reisland,  1894, 
3d  edition . 

Lehrpldne  und  Lehraufgaben  fur  die  hoheren  Schulen  in 
Preussen,  1901  (The  Prussian  School  Order). 
Official  edition.  Halle,  Waisenhaus,  1901. 


670  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

Verhandlungen  iiber  die  Fragen  des  hohcrcn  Untcrrichts. 
Berlin,  6.  bis  8.  Juni  1900.  Halle,  Waisen- 
haus,  1902. 

The  transactions  of  the  Berlin  Conference  on  ques- 
tions of  higher  education. 

Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education.  Washington, 
Government  Printing  Office. 

Chiefly  used  were  the  volumes  from  1888—1901. 

5.     Periodicals  Quoted  Frequently. 

American:  Educational  Revieiv,  Atlantic  Monthly,  North 
American  Review,  Forum,  American  Catholic 
Quarterly,  American  Ecclesiastical  Review,  Mes- 
senger, The  Review,  Woodstock  Letters  (published 
at  Woodstock  College,  for  private  circulation). 

English:  Month,  Tablet,  Dublin  Review,  Fortnightly 
Revieiv,  Nineteenth  Century,  Contemporary  Re- 
view. 

German:  Neue  Jahrbilcher  fur  das  klassische  Altertum, 
Geschichte  und  deutsche  Literatur  und  fur  Pada- 
gogik  (L,eipsic,  Teubner),  Monatschrift  far 
hohere  Schulen  (Berlin,  Weidmann),  Stimmen 
aus  Maria-Laach  (Freiburg,  Herder). 

French:  Etudes  (Paris,  Victor  Retaux). 


INDEX. 


Academies,  in  Jesuit  colleges, 
518  sqq. 

Accessories,  in  Jesuit  curricu- 
lum, 118,  125,  192. 

Acosta,  Jesuit  writer,  159. 

Adaptability,  of  Jesuit  system, 
197,  sqq.,  280—296. 

Adaptation,  in  the  Old  Society, 
283;  since  the  revision  of  the 
Ratio  Studiorum,  191  sqq., 
283  sqq. 

Affection,  of  pupils,  as  ele- 
ment of  teacher's  authority, 
612,  644. 

Agricola,  humanist,  33,  60,  67. 

Albertus  Magnus,  39,  99. 

Alcala,  university,  42—43,  79. 

d'Alembert,  149,  174,  176. 

Algue,  Jesuit  scientist,  230 — 
231.  " 

Aloysius,  St. ,  feast  of  students, 
557;  devotion  to,  559—560. 

Alvarez,  121  sqq.,  grammar, 
286. 

America,  school  reforms,  1 
sqq.,  292  sqq.\  weaknesses  of 
education,  293  sqq.,  301  sqq., 
307,  320  sqq.,  659-661;  schol- 
arship, 411  —  414;  aid  to 
schools,  412  ;  classical  stud- 
ies, 344  sqq.\  Jesuit  colleges, 
201  sqq. ;  American  Histories 
of  Education,  649  sqq. 

Ancient  authors,  see  "Classi- 
cal Studies.'* 

Antiquities,  as  taught  in 
schools,  199,  284,  382,  451— 
454;  method  of  teaching, 
486  sqq.,  519—520;  Jesuit 
writers  on,  157—158,  233. 

Appointment,  of  teachers  ac- 
cording to  ability,  439—442. 


Aquaviva,  General  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus,  103,  109  sqq., 
113. 

Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  39,  99; 
in  Jesuit  system,  132,  136, 
193—194. 

Archaeology,  see  "Antiqui- 
ties". 

Aristotle,  study  of  in  Middle 
Ages,  45;  Luther's  attacks, 
63;  in  Jesuit  system,  131, 
136,  193,  283;  in  Protestant 
schools,  136,  note  2;  in  mod- 
ern times,  193—194. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  translat- 
ing, 354. 

Arnold,  of  Rugby,  on  general 
education,  306;  school  exer- 
cises, 309;  Latin  and  Greek, 
351,  356;  scholarship  of 
teachers,  406;  dangers  of 
boarding  schools,  537  note 
2,  552  note;  Jesuit  methods, 
549— 550;  on  athletics,  571 
note;  religious  instruction, 
602—603;  cultivating  truth- 
fulness in  pupils,  629. 

Arnold,  Thomas,  son  of  for- 
mer, 163  note  2. 

Astronomers,  Jesuits,  179-180, 
226—229,  232. 

Astronomy,  in  Jesuit  curricu- 
lum, 131,  194. 

Athletics,  in  college,  569  sqq. 

Auger,  Jesuit  writer,  593. 

Austen,  T.,  321—322. 

Authority  of  teacher,  610-614. 

Avignon,  Jesuit  College,  127 — 
128. 

Azarias,  Brother,  11  mote. 


Bacon,  Roger,  39 — 40,  46. 


(67l) 


672 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 


Bacon,  Francis,  39—40;  on 
Jesuit  schools,  145. 

Bain,  Professor,  on  home  les- 
sons, 475-476;  teaching  Eng- 
lish, 491—492. 

Balde,  Jesuit  writer,  130,  161— 
162. 

Ballestrem,  Count,  on  Jesuit 
teachers,  535. 

Bancroft,  G.,  on  Jesuit  col- 
leges, 145;  Catholics  in 
Maryland,  203. 

Barbier,  Jesuit  educator,  623 — 
624. 

Barnard,  Henry,  on  Jesuit 
schools,  650  sqq. 

Barnes,  Dr.,  323—324. 

Barth,  Professor,  566. 

Bartoli,  Jesuit  writer,  137. 

Baumgartner,  Jesuit  writer, 
162,  233—234,  236,  238,  377, 
381,  383,  384,  386,  387,  390, 
391,  393,  396,  398,  401. 

Bayer,  Jesuit  educator,  121 
note  4. 

Beaumont  (England),  Jesuit 
College,  257. 

Beckx,  General  of  the  Society, 
362  note  3;  on  national  and 
political  attitude  of  Jesuits, 
262—263;  religious  instruc- 
tion, 599,  604. 

Beissel,  Jesuit  writer,  236. 

Bellarinine,  Robert  (Cardinal), 
Jesuit  theologian,  109;  his 
catechism,  592,  593  note  2. 

Benedict,  St.,  86,  633. 

Benedict  XIV.,  Pope,  Jesuit 
pupil,  172;  on  the  Sodalities, 
561. 

Benedictines,  educational  lab- 
ors, 25—26,  86—87;  as  histo- 
rians, 160. 

Bennett,  Professor  in  Cornell 
University,  on  experiment- 
ing in  American  schools, 
293  note  1;  on  Latin,  349 
note  1 ;  on  Roman  pronun- 
ciation, 460  note;  on  com- 
positions, 505. 


Berlin  Conferences  on  higher 
studies,  136  note  2,  289-291, 
333  sqq.,  351,  356,  378,  509, 
517. 

Beschi,  Jesuit  linguist,  152. 

Beirut,  Jesuit  University, 
206. 

Bible,  and  Reformers,  62—63 ; 
in  Jesuit  colleges,  121 — 124, 
590;  in  Greek,  398-399;  alone 
not  sufficient  for  religious 
instruction,  583  sqq.\  objec- 
tions of  Catholics  to  reading 
in  public  schools,  587  sqq. 

Biblical  World,  on  religious 
instruction,  577  —  578,  585, 
603. 

Bidermann,  Jesuit  writer,  130. 

Bishops  of  France,  on  Jesuits, 
273  sqq. 

Boarding  schools,  of  Jesuits, 
250;  dangers  of  boarding 
schools,  537  sqq.,  552,  and 
note. 

Boccaccio,  humanist,  50. 

Bohemia  Manor,  Maryland, 
Jesuit  school,  204. 

Bollaudists,  Jesuit  historians, 
161,  234—235. 

Bolsius,  Jesuit  scientist,  233. 

Bombay,  St.  Francis  Xavier, 
Jesuit  College,  206,  216. 

Bouaventure,  St.,  39,  99. 

Bonifacio,  Jesuit  educator,  163, 
453,  645. 

Bonvalot,  Jesuit  educator,  127. 

Boscovich,  Jesuit  scientist, 
179. 

Boston  College  and  President 
Eliot,  224  sqq. 

Branch  teacher,  442  sqq. 

Braun,  Jesuit  scientist,  232. 

Braunsberger,  Jesuit  historian, 
236. 

Brethren  of  the  Common  Life, 
31—33,  138;  see  correction 
653. 

Briggs,  Dean  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 320,  406,  538—539. 

Bristol,    Professor  in    Cornell 


INDEX. 


673 


University,  397  note  1,  398, 
401  note  1,  505. 

Broderick,  G.  C.,  409-410,  415. 

Brosnahan,  Jesuit  writer,  con- 
troversy with  President 
Eliot,  223  note  2,  224—225, 
327. 

Browning,  O.,  on  Jesuit  edu- 
cation, 16,  186,  244-245,  263. 

Brownson,  O.,  331,  529. 

Brunetiere,  F.,  550,  658. 

Brunswick,  laws  against  Jesuit 
schools,  240—241. 

Bryce,  James,  305—306,  338. 

Buckle,  H.  T.,263. 

Buffier,  Jesuit  geographer,  128, 
448  note. 

Bunyan,  265. 

Busaeus,  Jesuit,  44,  138. 

Butler,  President  of  Columbia 
University,  66—67  note,  293 
—294. 

Caesar,  381—382. 

Cajori,  Professor,  155-156, 157. 

Calcutta,  Jesuit  College,  216. 

Calniette,  Jesuit  Sanskrit 
scholar,  151—152. 

Cambridge,  69—70. 

Campbell,  Thomas,  Jesuit 
writer,  577  note. 

Canfield.  President,  313—315, 
572  note. 

Canisius,  Peter,  Jesuit,  43, 109, 
138;  care  for  poor  pupils, 
248—250;  on  emulation,  512; 
catechisms  and  catechetical 
instructions,  593—599. 

Carroll,  Charles  of  Carrollton, 
204,  260,  340. 

Carroll,  John,  Jesuit  and  first 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
204—205,  260;  founder  of 
Georgetown  College,  205. 

Castelein,  Jesuit  writer,  235. 

Catalogues  of  authors  in  Jesuit 
colleges,  374—375;  of  philo- 
logical helps,  446—447,  453 
-454. 

Catechetical  training  of  Jes- 


uits, 421;  instruction  in  Jes- 
uit schools,  590  sqq. 

Catechisms  written  by  Jesuits, 
592  sqq. 

Catharine  II.,  of  Russia,  and 
the  Jesuits,  177—178,  189, 
258. 

Catholic  Church,  and  educa- 
tion, 21  sqq.,  28,  30—31,  36— 
39,  50,  85-87. 

Catholics,  and  the  Bible,  587 
sqq.\  and  sectarian  schools, 
579  sqq. 

Cathrein,  Jesuit  writer,  235 
note  2,  237. 

Changes  of  teachers,  91—97, 
444—445. 

Character  training,  317  sqq., 
522  sqq: 

Charlemagne,  23,  26. 

Chateaubriand,  184—185. 

Chevalier,  Jesuit  scientist,  231. 

China,  cartographic  works  of 
Jesuits,  129,  158;  philo- 
logical works,  153—154,  158, 
232, 656 ;  Jesuit  mathematici- 
ans, 156,  158  ;  Jesuit  schools, 
206—208. 

Chossat,  Jesuit  writer,  128,  and 
passim. 

Christ,  the  teacher's  model, 
420,  631,  638,  643,  646;  centre 
of  history,  449  sqq. ;  his 
teaching  in  relation  to  ped- 
agogy, 526—527,  540;  Chris- 
tian interpretation  of  auth- 
ors, 365,  600. 

Christian  Brothers,  88,  98. 

Chrysostom,  St.,  85. 

Church  and  education,  see 
"Catholic  Church." 

Cicero,  88,  139,  376,  377  sqq., 
395—396,  468—471,  500. 

Clarke,  Jesuit  writer  and  edu- 
cator, 212,  235,  423—424,  551 
—555. 

Classes  in  Jesuit  schools,  118 
sqq.,  370,  372  sqq. 

Classical  studies,  in  Middle 
Ages  and  at  time  of  Renais- 


674 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


sauce,  27  sqq.y  33  sqq.,  41 — 
45, 47  sqq.\  in  Jesuit  system, 
286—287,  331  sqq.,  360;  edu- 
cational value  of,  330—369 ; 
dangers  of,  50—55,  367,  563 
sqq. ;  the  Gaume  controversy, 
366  sqq.;  classical  authors, 
351-352,  370-401 ;  explained 
in  Christian  spirit,  365,  600. 

Class  matches,  515  sqq.',  see 
* 'Emulation." 

Class  teachers,  442  sqq. 

Clavius  (Klau),  Jesuit,  mathe- 
matician, 133—134,  155,  438. 

Clement  XIV.,  Pope,  175. 

Clerc,  A.,  Jesuit  teacher,  645. 

Clergymen  as  educators,  100, 
408,  601—602. 

Clerics,  Regular,  80  note  3. 

Cleveland,  President  of  the 
United  States,  on  patriotism 
of  Jesuit  schools,  261 ;  on 
modern  school  reforms,  294. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  Jesuit  Col- 
lege and  Meteorological  Ob- 
servatory, 227,  229. 

Coe,  Professor  in  Northwest- 
ern University,  579. 

Coeurdoux,  Jesuit  Sanskrit 
scholar,  151. 

Colet,  Dean,  30. 

College,  American,  its  equi- 
valent in  Jesuit  system,  118, 
370;  function  of,  304,  306  sqq. 

Colleges  of  the  Society,  78, 
107;  number,  144—146;  in 
United  States,  200—205;  in 
other  countries,  201,  2055^.; 
success  of  Jesuit  colleges, 
Wsqg.,  145— 150,  207,  208— 
222;  Roman  College,  108; 
German  College,  138. 

Comenius,  292. 

Communion,  educational  in- 
fluence, 657—558. 

Comparative  philology,  con- 
tributions by  Jesuits,  149 — 
151. 

Compayr£,  character  of  his 
History  of  Pedagogy,  10,  11 


note, 649;  on  primary  schools, 
24;  medieval  universities,  40 
note  2;  attacks  on  Jesuit 
education,  10 — 11,  13  note, 
77  note,  104  note,  125,  130, 
135,  159,  163,  194—195,  233, 
243,  245—247,  249,  250,  361, 
362—363,  366  sqq.,  437,  489, 
493,  511,  618.  ' 

Competition,  see  "Emula- 
tion." 

Composition,  see  "Written 
exercises." 

Compulsory  education,  23,  29, 
66. 

Confession,  educational  in- 
fluence of,  550—557. 

Conservatism  in  Jesuit  educa- 
tion, 288  sqq.\  Grover  Cleve- 
land on  conservatism  in  edu- 
cation, 294. 

Constitutions  of  the  Society, 
74—75,  101  sqq. 

Contests,  exercises  in  Jesuit 
schools,  511  sqq. 

Conway,  James,  Jesuit  writer, 
577  note. 

Copernicus,  33,  42. 

Cortie,  Jesuit  astronomer,  229. 

Coster,  Jesuit  educator,  44, 138. 

Cramming  in  modern  systems, 
299  sqq. 

Cubberley,  Professor,  649,  650. 

Cusanus,  Cardinal,  33. 

Dahlmann,  Jesuit  scholar,  233, 

236. 
Dalberg,    Bishop,    patron     of 

learning,  34. 
Dana,  C.,  343. 

Daniel,  Jesuit  writer,  128,  366. 
Dante,  48—49,  387,  391. 
Darjeeling,  Jesuit  College,  216. 
Dark  Ages,  21  sqq. 
Davidson,  Thomas,  on  Jesuit 

system,  13—14,  76  note. 
Decline  of  teaching,  404 — 407. 
Decurions,  139,  286. 
Deharbe,  J.,  Jesuit,  599. 
Delauey,  W.,  Jesuit,  606. 


INDEX. 


675 


Demosthenes,  398. 

Denis,  Jesuit  writer,  131,  162, 

181. 
Denominational  schools,   580 

sqq. 
Devotions,      as      educational 

means,   558 — 560 ;    devotion 

of  teacher  to  work,  14,  147, 

440—441,  643—644. 
Dewey,    Admiral,    on    Jesuit 

Observatory  at  Manila,  230. 
Dierckx,  Jesuit  scientist,  233. 
Discipline,  in  school,  537  s^., 

608—635. 

Disputations,  in  Jesuit  col- 
leges, 139,  422-425,  511, 

518. 

Disraeli,  583,  589—590. 
Dollinger,  58,  61 ;  on  the  Jesu- 
its, 103,  189,  277. 
Dominicans,  39,  56,  86—87,  99. 
Dowling,  M.  P.,  Jesuit,  298. 
Drama,  in  Jesuit  colleges,  164 

sqq. ;  in  vernacular,  165  note 

3   192 
Draper,    President,    293,    301 

note,  327. 
Dressel,  Jesuit  scientist,  236— 

237. 

Dreves,  Jesuit  writer,  236. 
DufrSne,  Jesuit  educator,  121, 

126. 
Du  Halde,  Jesuit  geographer, 

159. 
Duhr,  Jesuit  historian,  12,  112, 

and  passim. 

Du  Pous,  Jesuit  linguist,  151. 
Duruy,  A.,  on  Jesuit  schools, 

218,  260,  535  note  2. 

Education,  meaning  of,  297 — 
298 ;  scope,  298—300;  liberal 
education,  301,  305,  307,  341; 
commercial,  306,  337—338; 
professional,  303,  335;  edu- 
cation and  the  Society, 
87  sqq. ,  104  sqq. ;  see  "Ratio 
Studiorum." 

Edward  VI,  29,  30,  652. 

Efficiency,  of  Jesuit  schools, 


89  sqq.,  145—150,  182  sqq., 
208—223;  causes  of,  13—14, 
17—18,  89—98,  135,  415^?., 
643-644. 

Ehrle,  Jesuit  historian,  234, 
236,  238. 

Einstein,  L.,  28,  31,  37. 

Elective  system,  5—6,  9 — 10, 
310-329. 

Electrical  World,  293—294, 
311,  339  note. 

Elementary  education,  before 
Reformation,  23  sqq.\  and 
the  Jesuits,  104—106,  209, 
247—248. 

Eliot,  President  of  Harvard 
University,  on  the  Jesuit 
system,  5,  9,  199,  223—225, 
243—244, 283, 311  sqq. ;  school 
reform,  293—294;  elective 
system,  311  sqq.\  on  Roman 

E  renunciation,  460  note ;  on 
lilure  of  education,  523. 

Elsperger,  Professor,  196—197. 

Emery,  Abbe,  184. 

Emulation,  as  a  factor  in  edu- 
cation, 511—518. 

England,  education  before  Re- 
formation, 29—31,  652—653; 
humanism,  28,  30,  37,  53; 
decline  of  learning,  69 — 71 ; 
penal  laws  against  Jesuit 
schools,  239—240;  recent  at- 
tacks on  Jesuits,  256  sqq. 

England,  Bishop,  330  note, 
340. 

English,  teaching  of,  see 
"Mother-tongue. ' ' 

Eobauus  Hessus,  55,  61. 

Epping,  Jesuit  scientist,  236. 

Erasmus,  leader  of  the  hum- 
anists, 34,  36,  54 — 55;  on 
schools  in  Spain,  41,  43;  on 
decline  of  learning  in  con- 
sequence of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 61—62;  St.  Ignatius 
and  Erasmus,  140. 

Erudition,  part  of  interpreta- 
tion of  the  authors  in  Jesuit 
system,  the  same  as  subject 


6y6 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


explanation,  447  sqq.,  452, 
461,  470,  485  sqq. 

Esteem,  element  of  teachers 
authority,  611  sqq. 

Ethics,  131,  284. 

Euclid,  153;  non- Euclidean 
geometry,  156—157,  cf.  "Sac- 
cheri." 

Example  of  teacher,  419,  531 
sqq.,  627,  630. 

Exercises,  means  of  intellec- 
tual training,  308—309,  456 
sqq.',  written  exercises,  499 
— 506 ;  correction,  503  sqq. 

Explanation,  of  authors,  see 
"Prelection." 

Expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from 
various  countries,  200,  225. 

Expurgated  editions  of  the 
classics,  363  sqq.,  562  sqq. 

Eyre,  Jesuit  educator,  111. 

Faber,  F.  W.,  630  note. 

Faber,  Peter,  Jesuit,  43,  60,  79. 

Fabri,  Jesuit  writer,  349,  392. 

Family,  relation  of  Jesuit 
schools  to,  250—251. 

Fear,  element  of  authority, 
614. 

Febres,  Jesuit  linguist,  155. 

Feldkirch,  Austria,  Jesuit  Col- 
lege, 411,  573. 

Feltre,  see  "Vittorino." 

Ferry,  French  Premier,  222, 
260. 

Fisher,  John,  Bishop,  30,  53. 

Fischer,  Joseph,  Jesuit  writer, 
237. 

Fitch,  Sir  Joshua,  on  clergy- 
men as  educators,  100;  on 
home  work,  475;  on  writing 
Latin  verses,  506  ;  on  Jesuit 
education,  549—550;  on  re- 
ligious instruction,  602 ;  on 
corporal  punishment,  616 
note  3. 

Fox,  Jesuit  philologist,  236. 

France,  success  of  Jesuit 
schools,  92,  182—184,  218— 
222 ;  cause  of  opposition  to 


teaching  congregations,  268 
—269,  658;  testimony  of 
Bishops  to  Jesuits,  273—276. 

Francis Xavier,  St.,  43,  78,  79; 
Jesuit  College  in  :  Bombay, 
206,  216;  Calcutta,  216;  New 
York,  202. 

Franciscans,  39,  56  note  2,  99. 

Frederick  the  Great,  of  Prus- 
sia, 90;  and  the  Jesuits,  176 
—178,  189,  258. 

Freiburg,  Jesuit  College,  163 
note  2,  332  note  2,  573. 

Friars,  39  sqq.,  80  note  3. 

Frisbee,  S.  H.,  Jesuit,  479  sqq. 

Gambetta,  220. 

Gates,  Professor,  577. 

Gaubil,  Jesuit  sinologist,  153. 

Gaume,  Abbe,  366  sqq. 

Geiler,  of  Kaisersberg,  34—35. 

Genelli,  Jesuit  writer,  15,  73, 
280. 

General  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  101—102. 

General  Congregations,  101 — 
102. 

Genung,  Professor,  353. 

Geography,  in  Jesuit  colleges, 
127—129,  192,  447  note  2, 
448;  Jesuit  geographers,  128 
—129,  158—159,  237. 

Georgetown,  Jesuit  College, 
205,  227,  261,  411. 

Gerard,  J.,  Jesuit  writer,  298, 
337. 

German  higher  schools,  before 
Reformation,  31  sqq.\  mod- 
ern, 9,  289  sqq.,  333  sqq.\ 
Jesuits  as  educators  and 
writers,  206,  235—238,  262, 
271. 

Gibbon,  450,  514. 

Gietmann,  Jesuit  writer,  236. 

Gnauck-Kiihne,  Mrs.,  96  sqq. 

Goethe,  161;  on  Jesuit  drama, 
171;  on  specialization,  324; 
on  classics,  360;  on  reading, 
566. 

Goodwin,  Professor,  544. 


INDEX. 


677 


Grammar,  study  of,  370  sqq.\ 
Greek,  392  sqq. 

Gratuitousness  of  instruction, 
246,  249—250. 

Greek,  study  of,  339  sqq.y  392 
sqq. 

Gretser,  Jesuit  writer,  121 
note  3. 

Grimaldi,  Jesuit  scientist,  157. 

Grisar,  Jesuit  historian,  46, 
234. 

Groot,  Gerard,  31. 

Guggenberger,  Jesuit  histori- 
an, 54  sqq. 

Guizot,  425. 

Gunther,  Professor,  180—181. 

Hadley,     President     of    Yale 

University,    2    note    1,    339 

note  1. 

Hadley,  Professor,  479  sqq. 
Hagen,  Jesuit  mathematician, 

227,  237,  655. 
Hall,    Stanley,    President    of 

Clark  University,  307  note  1, 
'  321,  360,  476—477,  501. 
Hallam,  67—69,  71,  251. 
Hanus,  Professor,  310—311. 
Hanxleden,     Jesuit     scholar, 

151. 
Hardouin,     Jesuit    historian, 

160. 
Harnack,    Professor  (Berlin), 

22  note  3,    52,    60  note   1, 

75—76,  83—84,  103,  290,  351. 
Harris,  W.  T.,  Commissioner 

of  Education,  330  note. 
Hartrnann,  Edward  von,  52 — 

53. 
Harvard    University,    1,    203, 

223,  315,  326,  327. 
Health,   of  pupils  cared   for, 

124,  572  sqq. 
Hegius,  humanist,  33—34,  53, 

60. 

Hell,  Jesuit  astronomer,  179. 
Helmholtz,  Professor,  333,  356. 
Herodotus,  395. 
Hervas,  Jesuit  linguist,  149 — 

151,  181. 


Henry  VIII,  29—30,  69,  70, 
652. 

Herder,  161. 

High  school,  equivalent  in 
Jesuit  system,  118,  370;  func- 
tion of,  303,  306;  modern 
high  school,  332. 

Hildebrand,  337,  349. 

Hillig,  F.,  Jesuit,  232. 

Historians,  among  Jesuits,  160 
—161,  233—234,  235. 

History  in  Jesuit  colleges,  124 
—126,  192,  199,  447—448;  an- 
cient, 448 — 451 ;  viewpoint 
of  Christian  teacher,  448 
sqq.,  600. 

Hohenlohe,  Prince,  173. 

Holguin,  Jesuit  scholar,  154. 

Holzmiiller,  Director,  333. 

Home  tasks,  475  sqq. 

Homer,  354,  399—401,  480  sqq. 

Horace,  391. 

Howorth,  Sir  Henry,  on  the 
Jesuits,  175,  256  note,  532 
note  2. 

Huber,  Professor,  77—78,  103, 
104,  148,  252,  258. 

Hughes,  T.,  Jesuit  writer,  200 
and.  passim. 

Humanism,  rise  and  charac- 
ter, 26—30,  33—37,  47—49 
sqq.\  attitude  of  Church,  28, 
30,  50,  60;  radical  human- 
ists, 54—57;  Luther's  alli- 
ance with,  58 — 60;  relation 
of  the  Jesuits  to,  88,  138— 
140. 

Humanities,  class  in  Jesuit 
system,  119,  370. 

Humphrey,  W.,  Jesuit  writer, 
81  note. 

Hutten,  humanist,  55,  59,  60. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola,  15;  char- 
acter, 73—75;  studies,  32, 
43,  78  sqq.,  137;  and  Luther, 
59_60,  77—78,  140;  and  the 
Constitutions,  75—77,  101; 
as  educator,  87  sqq.,  106;  on 
Paris  and  Louvain,  137—138; 


678  JESUIT  EDUCATION. 

on  self-activity,  308,  499;  on  454,  461,  467  sqq.,  484 — 485, 

self-conquest,  420;  on  nidi-  502,  548,  565,  600,  610,  622, 

viduality,  426;  on   dangers  624—625,  634,  637;  his  edu- 

of  reading,  51,  140,  563,  569;  cational  treatise:  Ratio  Dis- 

adaptation  of  his  system,  15,  cendi  et  Docendi,    162,    163 

280,  281;  prayer  for  persecu-  note  1,  434—435. 

tion,  278;  summary  of  Chris-  Jullien,  Jesuit  scientist,  232. 

tian   philosophy,   527—528;  Juniorate,  422,  431  sqq. 

on  good  example,  532,  569 ; 

summary  of   religion,   574 ;  Kant,  324,  513,  643. 

obedience,     610;    modesty,  Kemp,    E.   I/.,    10  note,   513, 

627;    prayer,   633    sqq.\    see  652—653. 

"Spiritual  Exercises.'*  Kempis,    Thomas  a,    31,    32, 

Imitation  exercises,  500  sqq.  322,  527,  610. 

Impartiality  of  teacher,   612,  Kepler,  astronomer,  on  Jesuit 

619—622.  writers,  657. 

India   (East),  Jesuit  writers,  Kern,  Professor,  531. 

151—152;  colleges,  206,  216.  Ketteler,  Bishop,  241,  534. 
Individuality,    317  sqq.\    and  Kino  (Kiihn),  Jesuit  mission- 
Jesuit  training,   367  note  1,  ary  and  geographer,  129. 

425—429.  Kircher,  Jesuit  scholar,  157— 

Intellectual    scope  of    educa-  158;     Museo    Kircheriano , 

tion,  297  sqq.,  316,  322^.;  158,  226. 

liberty,  136  note  2,  251—253,  Knecht,  Bishop,  592—593. 

270—271,489.  Kohlniann,     Jesuit    in     New 

Interpretation,     see    "Prelec-  York,  202. 

tion."  Konig,  Jesuit  writer,  127. 

Ireland,  monastic  schools,  26;  Korner,  535 — 536. 

modern  Jesuit  colleges,  213  Kreiten,  Jesuit  writer,  236. 

—216.  Kropf,    Jesuit    educator,    121 

Italy,  education,  see  "Human-  sqq.y  126,  163,448,  548,  610, 

ism."  and  passim. 

Kiibler,  Dr.,  290,  510. 

Jager,  Dr.,  351,  371.  Kugler,  Jesuit  scholar.  236. 
Jansenists,  164,  174. 

Janssen,  23  sqq.,  and  passim.  Labbe,  Jesuit  historian,    128, 

Jesuits,  see  Society  of  Jesus,  160,  448  note. 

Constitutions,  Ratio  Studio-  La  Cerda,  Jesuit  philologist, 

rum,     Colleges,     Teachers,  162,  163. 

Writers,  Pupils,  Opposition.  Ladeveze,  M.  de,  on  Jesuits, 

Jogues,  Jesuit  in  New  York,  267,  609. 

201—202.  La  Fl£che,  Jesuit  College,  168, 

Jones,    President    of    Hobart  484. 

College,   307,   321,   339,   541  Lainez,  General  of  the  Society, 

note.  79,  101. 

Jourdain,  182—184,  270—271.  Lalande,  179,  180,  186. 

Jouvancy,  (Juvencius),  Jesuit  Lang,  Andrew,  265. 

educator,  162,  164,  248,  331,  Lang,  Jesuit  writer,  165. 

353,  362,  377,  382,  383—385,  La  Rue  (Ruaeus),  Jesuit  phil- 

387,  400,  434—435,  447,  453,  ologist,  163—164. 


INDEX.  679 

Latimer,  70.  tion,  57 — 58 ;   alliance  with 

Latin,    during   Middle  Ages,       radical   humanists,   58 — 60; 

29,    M  sgq.;    in    Protestant       and  Loyola,  59— 60,  77,  140; 

and  Jesuit  schools,  6 — 9,129,       violent     language     against 

345 — 346;    in  modern    Ger-       universities    and    Aristotle, 

man  schools,  290  sqq.,  333       63 — 65;  appalled  at  decline 

sqq.y   476  sqq.,   509  sqq.;  in       of  schools,  65 — 66;  Hallam's 

American  schools,  2,  345;  as       estimate  of,  67 — 69;  on  vows 

means  of  logical  training,       and   monasticism,    81 ;    his 

346—351,  357—358;  speaking       catechism,  593—594. 

and  writing,  6—9,  129,  422, 

429—430,    498—511;    "Mon-  Mabillon,  Benedictine  histor- 

kish"  Latin,  430  note.  ian,  87. 

Leach,  A.  F.,  30,  430,  652—653.  Macaulay,  73. 

Ledesma,  Jesuit  educator,  108,  Madagascar,  Jesuits  in,  231. 

138,  403—404,  445,  Maher,  M.,  Jesuit  writer,  235. 

Lehmkuhl,  Jesuit  writer,  237.  Mallinckrodt,  von,  534. 

Leibnitz,  52,  156,  161..  Manare,  Oliver,  Jesuit,  444. 

Lemaltre,  J.,  368  sqq.  Manila,    Jesuit    College    and 
Leo   XIII,  Jesuit  pupil,   278;        Observatory,  229  sqq. 

on  religious  orders,  277;  on  Manning,  Professor,  157  note. 

Sodalities,  560;  Bellarmine's  Marquette,  Jesuit,  128—129. 

catechism,  593;  religious  in-  Martin,  Luiz,  General  of  the 

struction,  601,  605.  Society,  286—287,  297,  509. 

Leon,  Jesuit,  founder  of  Sodal-  Martineau,  320  sqq. 

ities,  560.  Martini,    Jesuit    geographer, 
Leopold  I.,  King  of  Belgium,        129,  159. 

on  Jesuit  schools,  259.  Maryland,  Jesuits  in,  202 — 204. 

Liberal  education,    301,    305,  Masen,  Jesuit  writer,  164. 

307,  341.  Matches,   class  matches,    515 
LiSge,    school,    33,    107,    139,       sqq. 

140—141,  240.  Mathematicians,  Jesuits,    155 
Limerick,  P.,  276.  —158,  182,  227—228,  232. 

Lines,  as  punishment,  497, 619.  Mathematics,    in   Jesuit    col- 
Literature,  Jesuit  writers  on,        leges,  132—134,  182, 192,  194, 

130—131,^  161—163,  181,  233       284;  educational  value  com- 

— 234,  235.  pared  with  linguistic  train- 

Littledale,  Canon,  73, 103,  264.       ing,  333,  336,  355;  training 
Livy,  382.  of  Jesuit  teachers  of  mathe- 

Longhaye,  Jesuit  writer,  234.          matics,  438—439. 

Louis-le-Grand,     Jesuit     Col-  Matthias,    Dr.,   of    Berlin,    4 

lege,  144.  note,  290,  510. 

Louvain,  school,  33,  138.  Maynard,     Abbe",     on    educa- 
Lowell,  323,  357.  tional  labors  of  the  Jesuits 

Loyola,  see  * 'Ignatius."  before  the  suppression,  178 

Lucas,  Herbert,  Jesuit  writer,        sqq. 

532.  McCosh,  President  of  Prince- 
Lugo,  Jesuit  theologian,  109,        ton,   on    liberal    education, 

427.  302;   on  elective  system  at 

Luther,   in    Protestant   tradi-        Harvard,  315— 316;  on  Amer- 


68o 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


lean  scholarship,  413;  on 
moral  training,  522,  537  — 
538;  on  athletics,  570;  on 
religious  instruction,  582. 
McCloskey,  Cardinal,  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  557— 
558. 

Melanchthon,  on  decline  of 
education,  61 ;  attitude  to- 
wards higher  studies,  64, 
67;  drew  inspirations  from 
medieval  schools,  72,  530 
note;  on  Canisius,  595. 

Memory  lessons,  493—499. 

Messina,  Jesuit  College,  108, 
137. 

Messmer,  Bishop  of  Green 
Bay,  592,  593  note  2. 

Metereology,  cultivated  by 
Jesuits,  227,  229—232. 

Method  of  teaching  in  prac- 
tice, 456  sqq. 

Meyer,  Theodore,  Jesuit  writer 
on  ethics,  237. 

Middle  Ages,  educational  con- 
ditions, 21 — 44;  character  of 
education,  44  sqq.,  see 
"Scholasticism." 

Modern  languages,  332 ;  mod- 
ern high  school,  ib. 

Modesty,  to  be  inculcated  in 
pupils,  626  sqq. 

Mommsen,  Theodore,  378,  380, 
381. 

Monasticism,  80—84. 

Monita  Secreta,  102—103. 

Monks,  Protestant  view  of,  80 
note  3;  as  educators,  84 — 87. 

Monroe,  Jesuit  educator,  645 
note. 

Morality  in  Jesuit  schools,  251 
sqq.,  531—536. 

Moral  training,  317  sqq.,  522— 
573. 

More,  Thomas,  53. 

Mother -tongue,  studied  in 
Jesuit  colleges,  129—131, 191 
—192,  284,  448  note,  491 
sqq.;  and  study  of  classics, 
356  sqq. 


Miiller,  Max,  Professor  at  Ox- 
ford, on  Jesuit  writers,  149— 
151,  233. 

Munich,  splendor  of  Jesuit 
drama,  168—170. 

Miinsterberg,  Professor  at 
Harvard,  on  modern  school 
reforms,  5;  American  teach- 
ers, 92 — 94;  premature  speci- 
alization, 303;  elective  sys- 
tem, 319—320,  325—327; 
preparation  of  teachers,  402, 
403;  American  scholarship, 
413. 

Nadal,  Jerome,  Jesuit  educa- 
tor, on  elementary  educa- 
tion, 106;  plan  of  studies, 
108  note  3,  116,  117  note  2; 
geographical  reading,  128 
note  3;  study  of  German, 
130;  relation  to  the  Ratio 
Studiorum,  138 ;  instruction 
gratuitous,  249;  training  of 
teachers,  404,  441—442;  re- 
ligious toleration,  596. 

Nagelsbach,  Professor,  385, 
387,  389—390,  398,  473. 

Natalis,  see  "Nadal." 

Nation,  New  York,  on  electiv- 
ism,  326;  on  decline  of  teach- 
ing, 404—406. 

National  questions,  attitude  of 
the  Jesuits,  262—263. 

Natural  sciences,  see  "Scien- 
ces." 

Neander,  on  monks  as  educa- 
tors, 85—86. 

Nepos,  384. 

Netherlands,  humanist 
schools,  31 — 32,  43;  influence 
on  formation  of  Ratio  Stu- 
diorum, 138  sqq. 

Newcomb,  Simon,  on  Father 
Hell,  179;  on  American 
scholarship,  413. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  on  medie- 
val education,  23  note;  on 
monks,  81  note;  religious  as 
educators,  86 — 87;  on  clas- 


INDEX. 


68 1 


sics,  355,  359—360,  378 ;  on 
individuality  among  Jesuits, 
367  note  1,  42i>-427;  on 
moral  training,  555  sqq.\ 
Jesuit  obedience,  609  note. 

New  York,  Jesuit  College, 
201—202. 

Nightingale,  Professor,  307 
note,  357. 

Nobili,  Robert,  Jesuit,  first 
^European  Sanskrit  scholar, 
151. 

Notes,  taken  in  class,  463 — 
465. 

Non-sectarian  school,  580  sqq. 

Noviciate,  in  the  Society,  418 
—422. 

Number  of  Jesuit  colleges,  78, 
107,  144  sqq.,  200—206;  of 
Jesuit  pupils,  13,  144—146, 
206. 

Obedience,  of  teacher,  609 — 
610,  650;  of  pupil,  650. 

Oberammergau,  Passion  play, 
and  Jesuit  drama,  169. 

Observatories,  of  Jesuits,  180, 
227,  229  -232. 

Odenbach,  F.  L.,  Jesuit  mete- 
orologist, 227. 

Officials,  in  Jesuit  colleges, 
115—118. 

Oliphant,  L.,  208. 

Opposition,  to  Jesuit  educa- 
tion, bsqq.,  146—148,  239— 
279;  causes  of,  6—13,  264 
sqq. 

Oratorians,  127,  448  note. 

Ovid,  44,  385,  386,  565. 

Oxford,  69—71,  212,  411. 

Pachtler,  Jesuit  historian,  112, 

283,  410,  494,  and  passim. 
Painter,  F.  V.  N.,  10  note,  37, 

131,  245,  252—254,  361,  511, 

596. 

Pantel,  Jesuit  scientist,  233. 
Papenbroeck,  Jesuit  historian, 

161. 
Paris,   University   of,   32,   39, 


43,  79,  99,  137 ;  influence  on 
Jesuit  system,  137  sqq.\  op- 
position to  Jesuits,  182  sqq., 
269—271. 

Patience,  of  teacher,  420,  630, 
631—632,  646. 

Patriotism,  and  Jesuit  schools, 
255—263. 

Paulsen,  Professor,  7,  22,  52, 
59—60,  81—82,  90—91,  100, 
136,  195—197,  324,  407—409, 
425 ;  on  Jesuit  schools,  17 — 
18,  79—80,  193—194,  254— 
255,  271—272,  512,  532—533. 

Peck,  Professor  in  Columbia 
University,  223  note  2,  224, 
327. 

Pedagogy,  meaning  of,  524 
sqq.\  relation  to  philosophy, 
524 — 525;  pagan  and  Christi- 
an, 526;  Jesuit  writers  on, 
162—163,  434—435. 

Permanent  teachers,  435  sqq. 

Perpinian,  Jesuit  writer,  162. 

Perry,  Jesuit  astronomer,  228. 

Pesch,  Henry,  Jesuit  writer, 
237. 

Petavius,  Jesuit  scholar,  160, 
427,  448  note. 

Petrarch,  49—50. 

Phaedrus,  385,  472—473. 

Philology,  in  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  149—155,  199,  446— 
447,  453—454;  Jesuit  con- 
tributions to  comparative 
philology,  149—150. 

Philosophy,  Aristotelian,  see 
"Aristotle";  in  Jesuit  sys- 
tem, 131,  193—197;  philoso- 
phy neglected  in  modern 
systems,  195 — 197 ;  philo- 
sophical training  of  Jesuits, 
422  sqq.\  philosophy  in  rela- 
tion to  pedagogy,  524 — 525. 

Physics,  in  Jesuit  curriculum, 
131,  134,  194. 

Pitt,  on  classics,  358. 

Plans  of  studies,  previous  to 
the  Ratio  Studioruui,  108— 
109. 


682 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


Plato,  396—398,  451. 

Plautus,  165—166,  391,  565. 

Polanco,  Jesuit,  137. 

Poland,  W.,  Jesuit  writer,  11 
note,  577  note. 

Politeness,  of  pupils,  626  sqq. 

Politics,  attitude  of  Jesuits, 
262—263. 

Pombal,  174. 

Pompadour,  174. 

Pontanus,  Jesuit  philologian, 
110,  121  note  2,  162. 

Poor  pupils,  care  of,  in  Jesuit 
schools,  247—250. 

Poree,  Jesuit  educator,  181. 

Porter,  Noah,  of  Yale,  on 
Jesuit  schools,  245,  246,  269. 

Port  Royal,  127,  164. 

Portugal,  suppression  of  Soci- 
ety, 174. 

Postgate,  Professor,  498  note. 

Poulton,  Jesuit,  founder  of 
school  in  Maryland,  203. 

Prayer,  educational  help,  632 
sqq. 

Prefect  of  Discipline,  117. 

Prefect  of  Studies,  117,  609. 

Prelection,  i.  e.  interpretation 
of  authors,  etc.,  457—493; 
preparation  of,  464—466. 

Pre*mare,  Jesuit  sinologist,  153. 

Prescribed  courses,  310—329. 

Primary  education,  see  ''Ele- 
mentary." 

Prince  Henry,  and  the  Jesuits 
in  China,  207—208. 

Private  talks  with  pupils,  548 
sqq. 

Prizes,  514;  see  "Emula- 
tion." 

Pronunciation,  correct,  459 — 
461 ;  Roman,  of  Latin,  460 
note. 

Protestant,  Reformation  and 
education,  57 — 72  ;  schools 
in  16.  and  17.  centuries, 
89—91 ;  view  of  Jesuits,  264 
— 267;  moral  training  in 
Protestant  and  Catholic 
schools,  538  sqq.)  541  note, 


551 — 557;  reading  of  Bible, 
583  sqq. 

Provincial,  101. 

Prussia,  Jesuit  colleges  after 
suppression,  176. 

Prussian  School  Order,  9,  289, 
291,  392,  394  note  1;  on  class 
teachers,  443;  on  transla- 
tions, 478 ;  on  written  exer- 
cises, 500;  religious  instruc- 
tion, 581,  601—602. 

Psychology,  in  Jesuit  course, 
131,  194. 

Punishments,  614—619;  cor- 
poral, 616. 

Pupils,  of  Jesuit  schools,  num- 
ber, 13, 144—146,  206;  distin- 
guished, 172,  204—205,  258. 

Quick,  on  Jesuit  system,  10, 
13,  98,  135—136,  241,  243, 
246—249,  265,  431,  437,  466, 
489,  516—517,  518,  530,  565, 
624. 

Quigley,  Archbishop  of  Chi- 
cago, 302. 

Quintilian,  419,  564,  614. 

Ranke,  18,  89,  145,  246,  322, 
595,  628. 

Rashdall,  H.,  21  sqq.,  29—30, 
39—40,  41,  430. 

Ratio  Discendi  et  Docendi,  of 
Jouvancy,  162,  163  note  1, 
434—435. 

Ratio  Studiorum,  107—143, 
189 — 199;  modern  criticism 
on,  5 — 16  ;  drawn  up,  109 — 
111 ;  name,  111 ;  seized  by 
Spanish  Inquisition,  112 
sqq.\  character,  114  sqq.\ 
classes,  118,  121  sqq.\  school 
hours,  124;  branches:  lan- 
guages, 118,  331  sqq.,  345— 
360;  mother-tongue,  129,284, 
491  sqq.',  history,  125  sqq., 
447  note  2;  geography,  127 
sqq.\  archaeology,  see  "An- 
tiquities"; philosophy,  131 
sqq.,  193—197;  mathematics, 


INDKX. 


683 


132—134 ;  sciences,  134,  192, 
194—195,  197—199;  succes- 
sive teaching,  of  branches, 
132;  class  teachers,  4425??., 
sources  of  Ratio,  19—20, 
136—143;  revision,  1915??.; 
results,  see  "Efficiency", 
adaptability,  2805??.;  essen- 
tials, 286  5??.;  defects,  14, 
92  note  1,  444—445. 

Raumer,  17,  166,  251—252; 
character  of  his  history  of 
education,  650 <5g£. 

Reading,  according  to  sense, 
458—461,  498;  amount  of, 
482  sqq. ;  dangers  of  reading, 
51,  166,367,  5625??. 

Rector,  President  in  Jesuit 
colleges,  115—116. 

Reformation,  and  education, 
57  5??.;  decline  of  schools, 
60—66;  in  England,  69—71 ; 
elementary  school  not  child 
of  Reformation,  24;  Jesuit 
system  not  borrowed  from 
Protestant  schools,  19—20, 
140  sqq.\  compulsory  educa- 
tion and  state-monopoly  re- 
sult of,  66. 

Reform-Gymnasium,291 — 292, 
336. 

Reforms,  modern,  1 — 5;  in 
Germany,  289—292  ;  in  Am- 
erica, 292—296;  towards 
elective  system,  310—312. 

Relations,  of  Jesuits,  128. 

Religious,  name,  80  note  3; 
as  educators,  845??.,  96—98, 
209;  opposition  to,  89, 98-100; 
success  of,  92—98,  221  5??. 

Religious  instruction,  574 — 
607 ;  necessity,  674—578 ; 
Catholic  position,  578—582; 
undenominational  religion, 
582—583;  reading  of  Bible, 
583^??.;  catechism,  590  sqq.\ 
correlation  of  all  branches 
with  religion,  599—605;  re- 
ligious instruction  in  higher 
schools,  605  sqq. 


Renaissance,  see  "Human- 
ism." 

Repetition,  in  Jesuit  system, 
466—467,  474. 

Resistance,  value  of,  in  edu- 
cation, 319—322. 

Rethwisch,  C.,  75??. 

Revival  of  Learning,  see 
"Humanism." 

Revision  of  the  Ratio  Studio- 
rum,  191  5??. 

Rhetoric,  class  in  Jesuit  sys- 
tem, 120,  370;  meaning  of, 
432. 

Ribadeneira,  Peter,  Jesuit 
writer,  102,  138,  511. 

Ribot,  M.,  on  secondary 
schools  in  France,  218—219. 

Ricci,  Jesuit  scholar,  153,  156. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  Jesuit 
pupil,  172;  on  Jesuit  col- 
leges, 271. 

Richthofen,  Baron,  on  Jesuit 
scholars,  129,  158—159.  ^ 

Rickaby,  Joseph,  Jesuit  writer, 
235. 

Rivals,  see  "Class  matches." 

Rogers,  Thorold,  30. 

Roman  College,  108,  110,  144, 
227. 

Roman  history,  448 — 451. 

Roothaan,  General  of  the  So- 
ciety, 191,  197—198,  296,  329, 
360—361. 

Roth,  Jesuit,  author  of  first 
European  Sanskrit  gram- 
mar, 151. 

Rousseau,  175,  643, 

Rowland,  Professor  in  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  413. 

Ruaeus  (La  Rue),  Jesuit 
scholar,  163—164. 

Ruhkopf,  on  morality  in  Jesuit 
schools,  537. 

Ruiz,  Jesuit  linguist,  155. 

Russell,  Dr.,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, 8—9,  19,  20,  141, 
244,  313. 

Russia,  Society  preserved  in, 
177,  189. 


684 


JESUIT  EDUCATION. 


Sabatier,  P.,  209. 

Saccheri,  Jesuit  mathematici- 
an, 156—157,  654—655. 

Sacchini,  Jesuit  writer,  162, 
249,  436,  438,  497,  530,  548, 
592,  600,  624,  634,  637. 

Sadler,  Mr.,  659. 

Saintsbury,  on  Southwell,  162. 

Saint-Vincent,  Gregory,  156. 

Salamanca,  University,  41,  43, 
79. 

Salisbury,  Lord,  on  undenom- 
inational religion,  583. 

Sallust,  382—383. 

Sallwiirk,  Dr.  von,  435,  448 
note. 

Sanskrit,  Jesuit  scholars,  151 
—152. 

Sanson,  geographer,  448  note. 

Sarbiewski,  Jesuit  poet,  161. 

Savonarola,  51,  60. 

Scaliger,  160,  657. 

Schall,  Jesuit  mathematician, 
156. 

Scheiner,  Jesuit  scientist,  157. 

Schiller,  Director,  478,  566 
note,  588—589,  601—602. 

Scholars,  Jesuits,  see  "Writ- 
ers." 

Scholarship,  among  Jesuits, 
198—199,  226—238,  410—411; 
in  America,  411  sqq.\  schol- 
arship and  teaching  ability, 
402—414. 

Scholasticism,  45—57;  defects 
of,  46  sqq.\  humanists  on, 
52;  relation  of  Jesuit  system 
to,  136. 

School  drama,  164  sqq. 

School  management,  608 — 635. 

Schopenhauer,  325. 

Sciences,  in  Jesuit  curriculum, 
134,  192,  194—195,  197—198, 
199,  283 ;  and  classics,  359. 

Scientists,  among  Jesuits,  157, 
178—181,  226—233,654—656. 

Scoraille,  Jesuit  writer,  515 — 
516. 

Scotland,  education  before 
Reformation,  28—29. 


Scope  of  education,  intellec- 
tual, 297  sqq.\  injured  by 
electivism,  316  sqq.\  moral, 
^11  sqq.,  522^^. 

Scotus,  39,  193,  425. 

Secchi,  Angelo,  Jesuit  astron- 
omer, 226—227. 

Secondary  schools  before  Re- 
formation, %§sqq.,  652—653. 

Sectarian  schools,  580  sqq. 

Seeley,  Levi,  10  note,  37,  246— 
247,  511,  649. 

Selfishness,  alleged  of  Jesuits, 
251,  254—255. 

Seminary  of  teachers  in  Soci- 
ety, 433—434,  453. 

Seneca,  384-385. 

Seyffert,  M.,  309,  379,  507. 

Shea,  Gilmary,  536—537. 

Shoup,  W.  J.,  652. 

Sirmond,  Jesuit  historian,  448 
note. 

Sixtus  V.,  and  the  Ratio  Stu- 
diorum,  112—113. 

Sloane,  Rev.  M.,  on  Jesuits, 
243. 

Smith,  Clement  L.,  304—305. 

Smith,  Sydney,  Jesuit  writer, 
173  note  1. 

Snyder,  Carl,  413. 

Society  of  Jesus,  name,  75; 
foundation  and  aim,  75 — 77, 
79  sqq.\  and  education,  80 
sqq.\  constitutions,  101  sqq.\ 
suppression,  173—175,  189— 
190. 

Socrates,  253,  397. 

Sodalities,  560- -562. 

Sommervogel,  Jesuit  writer, 
148. 

Sources,  of  Ratio  Studiorutu, 
136—143. 

Southwell,  Robert,  Jesuit  poet, 
162. 

Spahn,  Deputy,  on  Jesuit 
scholars,  235—237. 

Spain,  schools,  40 — 44;  sup- 
pression of  Society,  174. 

Spanish  Inquisition,  seized 
Ratio  Studiorum,  112  sqq. 


INDEX. 


685 


Spe,  Frederick,  Jesuit  writer, 
130  and  note  4. 

Speaking  Latin,  506  sqq. 

Specialization,  303,  317,  322— 
325;  in  Society,  198-199,  440. 

Spencer,  525,  643. 

Spiritual  Exercises,  of  St. 
Ignatius,  75,  420,  426,  527, 
532  note  1,  560,  574. 

Sport,  see  "Athletics." 

St.  Boniface,  Jesuit  College, 
216. 

Stephens,  Jesuit  linguist,  152. 

Stiglmayr,  Jesuit  scholar,  237, 
397. 

Stonyhurst,  Jesuit  College, 
228,  229,  257—258,  564,  617. 

Strassmaier,  Jesuit  assyriolog- 
ist,  233,  236. 

Stryker,  President  of  Hamil- 
ton College,  on  liberal  edu- 
cation, 341. 

Studio,  inferiora,  118  sqq. 

Sturm,  Reformer  and  school- 
man at  Strasburg,  19—20, 
72;  his  system  not  model  of 
Ratio  Studiorum,  140  sqq. 

Suarez,  Jesuit  theologian,  81 
note,  88,  109,  426,  427. 

Success,  of  Jesuit  colleges,  see 
"Efficiency." 

Successive  teaching,  preferred 
to  simultaneous,  118,  132. 

Sunday  schools,  and  religious 
training,  578. 

Supervision  in  college,  537 
sqq.,  541  sqq.,  546—547. 

Suppression  of  the  Society, 
173—175;  effects  on  educa- 
tion, 184—186. 

Sydney  Smith,  discipline  in 
English  public  schools,  539 
note. 

Syria,  Jesuit  schools,  106,  206 
—207,  209. 

Tacitus,  383—384. 
Taunton,  E.,  427— 428. 
Taylor,  H.  O.,  45,  49,  82—83. 
Teaching,      in      relation      to 


scholarship,  see  ''Scholar- 
ship." 

Teachers  of  the  Society,  91— 
98,  415  sqq.\  permanent 
teachers,  435,  437  sqq.\ 
changes  of  teachers,  92  note 
1,  444 — 445 ;  training  of, 
415 — 455;  direct  training  for 
teaching,  431^434;  cf.  410  ; 
continued  self-training,  446 
sqq.\  training  of  teachers  of 
mathematics  in  the  Old 
Society,  133,  438—439;  ap- 
pointment according  to 
ability,  439—442;  qualities 
requisite :  in  general,  415 — 
416 ;  in  particular :  mastery 
of  the  subject,  403—404,  410, 
446  sqq.,  453  sq  .,  611;  see 
also  "Scholarship";  quali- 
ties of  character :  authority, 
610—614;  submissipn,  608— 
610;  self-control,  419—420, 
531—533,611—612,  615;  im- 
partiality, 420,  612,  6l9sgg.\ 
politeness,  627—628;  truth- 
fulness, 630;  patience,  420, 
630,  631—632,  646;  kindness, 
420,  612—613,  622  ;  firmness, 
612,  614,  619,  623  sqq.\  pru- 
dence, 418—419,  615,  624- 
625,  628—629;  zeal  and  devo- 
tion to  work,  94,  98,  420, 
436-^38,  528—531,  535—537, 
540—543,  545—547,  548-550, 
562  sqq.,  637—644;  piety, 
419—421,  643^.;  persever- 
ance, 95^^.,  435—438,  642; 
motives  and  ideals,  636 — 
648. 

Terence,  165—166,  391,  565. 

Tetlow,  Principal,  327—328. 

Text-books,  of  Jesuits,  163— 
164  393. 

Theiner,  173,  178,  185. 

Thomas,  see  "Aquinas"  and 
"Kempis." 

Thornton,  A.,  578—579. 

Thring,  E.,  337,  616. 

Thucydides,  395. 


686 


JKSUIT  EDUCATION. 


Tirabosclii,  Jesuit  writer,  181. 

Times,  London,  222,  256—257. 

Tolerance,  religious  and  the 
Jesuits,  252—254,  595—596. 

Tom  Brown's  School  Days, 
537,  572. 

Tragedies,  401. 

Training  of  teachers,  see 
"Teachers." 

Translation,  of  classical  au- 
thors, 353  sqq.\  by  the 
teacher,  462—463;  in  class, 
474^478. 

Trendelenburg,  Professor,  193. 

Trent,  Council  of,  and  reform 
of  education,  71. 

Trichinopoli,  Jesuit  College, 
2p6. 

Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  27, 
44. 

Trotzendorf,  530. 

Truth,  on  "Jesuit  and  Gaol- 
Bird  System,"  546—547. 

Truthfulness,  628  sqq. 

Tursellini,  Jesuit  writer,  126 
note  2,  164. 

Undenominational  school,  579 
sqq. 

Universities,  before  Reforma- 
tion, 38 — 44;  denounced  by 
Luther,  63 — 64 ;  opposition 
of,  to  Jesuits,  182  sqq.,  269 
sqq. 

Valla,  humanist,  51. 

Vasquez,  Jesuit  theologian, 
109,  426,  427. 

Vatican  library,  28. 

Vest,  Senator,on  Jesuit  schools 
among  the  Indians,  209 — 
211. 

Viger,  Jesuit  philologist,  164. 

Virchow,  Professor,  290,  334. 

Virgil,  44,  49,  387—391,  471.' 

Visconti,  General  of  the  Soci- 
ety, 431—432,  434,  442. 

Vitelleschi,  General  of  the 
Society,  549. 


Vittorino  da  Feltre,  26-28,  60, 

563  note. 
Vives,  Luiz,   humanist,  141— 

142. 

Vogt,  Professor,  336. 
Voltaire,    152,    174,    435;    on 

Jesuit     colleges,      174—175, 

181  ^   on  morality  in  Jesuit 

colleges,  533—534. 

Wagner,  Jesuit  writer,  126. 

Waldeck- Rousseau,  and  Jesuit 
schools,  186,  219. 

Washington,  George,  at 
Georgetown  College,  205;  on 
religion,  576. 

Wasmann,  Jesuit  entomolo- 
gist, 232—233,  236,  238. 

Weissenfels,  Professor,  306 
note  3,  317. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  on  ef- 
fects of  suppression  of 
Society,  185 ;  on  schools 
without  religion,  576. 

Werenfels,  Reformed  theolo- 
gian, 587. 

West,  Professor  in  Princeton, 
344. 

Whitton,  Professor,  251,  406. 

Wiese,  Dr.,  309,  356. 

Wilamowitz,  von,  (University 
of  Berlin),  369,  378,  505. 

William  of  St.  Amour,  99. 

Williams,  Professor  in  Cornell 
University,  651. 

Willmann,  Professor,  4  note, 
468 sqq.,  473,  485. 

Wimpheling,  humanist,  35 — 
36,  54,  60. 

Windle,  Dr.,  581. 

Winsor,  Justin,  on  Jesuit  writ- 
ers, 154-155,  159. 

Witchcraft,  charges  against 
Jesuit  teachers,  148. 

Women,  education  of  in  Mid- 
dle Ages,  41,  and  note  2. 

Writers  of  the  Society,  148— 
164,  179—182,  225—238;  why 
often  ignored,  154,  657. 


INDKX. 


687 


Written  exercises,  see  "Exer-    Zahorowski,  103. 

cises."  Zallinger,  three  Jesuit  scien- 

tists, 180—181. 
Ziegler,    Professor,    82    note, 

140,  255,  270,  433,  582. 
Zi-ka-wei,  Jesuit  College  and 

observatory,  207—208,  232. 
Zottoli,  Jesuit  sinologist,  656. 


Xavier,  see  "Francis." 
Xenophon,  394—395. 
Ximenez,  Cardinal,  42. 

Yeuni,  Jesuit  educator,  438. 


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